Robert & Rosalind are Dead
by Insane Guy of DOOM
Summary: The debt has been paid, the circle has been broken, and the Lutece twins are ready to resume their quantum travels. But every action has a consequence, even for them, and this time, they don't have a Booker DeWitt to do their dirty work. This time Rosalind and Robert will have step out of the shadows and save the day, and that's a bad sign for the odds of success. Spoilers for BaS
1. The Debt Paid

_A non-troll story from me? How many years has it been? Well, this still will be far more lighthearted than any BioShock game. Though after Burial at Sea, that should be welcome. _

_Just in case you did not notice in the description: this takes place immediately after Burial at Sea, Episode 2, so the very first line of this story will be a massive spoiler._

Robert & Rosalind are Dead

1.

The Debt Paid

Sally walked away from Elizabeth's stiffening body. While she didn't want to leave Elizabeth, those two splicers standing a few feet away were scaring her. They didn't act or look like the other splicers, they just stared at her. The male splicer moved towards Elizabeth's body and Sally broke out into a full sprint.

"So, we're done then?" Rosalind asked while Robert inspected the body. "The cycle's broken?"

"Paid in full," Robert answered.

"Well then there's no reason for us to remain here." Rosalind snapped her head away from Elizabeth. She could not let Robert see her tears, if he knew she was not completely indifferent to the DeWitts she would never hear the end of it. "I promised you we would settle this, brother, and we have. Now let's go."

Robert knelt down by Elizabeth, he knew he shouldn't interfere any farther and yet, "Yes, but… we cannot just leave her like this, can we?"

"What else can we do? We've done our part and can put this all behind us." Rosalind cursed her brother's stronger sense of morality. Every moment they spent in Rapture weakened her wall against emotion.

Defeated, Robert nodded and started to get up when an idea struck him. He reached forward and pressed his hand over Elizabeth's face. Lowering his palm down, he forced Elizabeth's eyes closed, just as she had done to another Elizabeth weeks before. Robert stood up and walked back to Rosalind, who was hastily stuffing a teary handkerchief into her pocket. For her sake, he pretended not to notice. Neither of them bothered to take another glance at Elizabeth's body, which had begun to shift and twitch like an object being affected by a tear.

"You're right. I have to thank you for staying with me in this endeavor. Now we can do whatever you mind desires," Robert said. "Where shall we go? Dunwal? Azeroth? That horrible reality where everyone is a talking horse?"

Rosalind didn't answer, not verbally. In an instant Robert found himself sitting across from Rosalind at an outdoor café in Paris, tea and croissants already set out. Robert raised his eyebrows at Rosalind. This was the last place he'd expect her to go to.

"I just felt it might be nice to relax for moment. Perhaps you're rubbing off on me, brother," Rosalind answered, then took a sip of tea.

"In that case, have you given any thought to my proposal?" Robert asked. Rosalind's face darkened and she set her teacup down.

"No."

"You haven't even considered—"

"No, I mean I _have_ thought about it, and my answer is _no_." Now Robert took on a similarly glum appearance at Rosalind's response. "Honestly, you would have us relinquish immortality and omnipotence for what? 2.5 children and a house with a white picket fence?"

"The design of the fence is entirely negotiable." Robert's answer may have seemed like their usual banter, but Rosalind detected an extra level of bite to the jab compared to normal.

"Brother, I know what this means to you. I just don't share your viewpoint, and I'm positive if you were to look at the situation from a logical perspective you would agree." This had no effect on Robert, who remained quiet. Rosalind forced a cough to break the silence. If seriousness wasn't getting to him, perhaps jest would.

"And think about it, what on Earth would name them?" Rosalind hoped that dwelling on the idea of children would point out to Robert how ridiculous it sounded. "I supposed if it was a girl, Rosamond would suffice."

"I would prefer Rosemary," Robert said.

"You would have our hypothetical daughter named after a single plant when she could be all the roses of the world?" Rosalind scoffed, "And furthermore, what if it was to be male? There's no name that could-"

"Ronald, of course."

Rosalind scrunched up her nose at the suggestion. "That's the sort of name I'd expect for a dreadful clown to have." She folded her arms and leaned back, ready to go in for the lecturing kill. "See, we are not suited for that sort of life. Besides, we already have the universe as our petri dish," She reached across the table and took Robert's hands in hers. "And most importantly, we have each other. There's nothing more we could ever need."

Robert opened his mouth to answer, but suddenly froze. His eyes widened in shock and horror. Rosalind turned around to see what had provoked this reaction. Once she saw what Robert had seen, her own face perfectly mirrored his. Stumbling towards them, clothing torn, her face half covered in blood, and constantly shifting like an unstable tear, was Elizabeth.

###


	2. A Quantum Hiccup

_All right, for chapter two, here's a slight contest thingy in the event anyone plans to review (thanks SilentPony for being the first! Here's a question: Of all the places, why did Robert chose Dunwal, Azeroth and My Little Pony as examples of places they could go? What links them? The winner would get… bragging rights, maybe a short cameo? _

2.

A Quantum Hiccup

Elizabeth picked up her pace, staggering towards the Lutece twins, who were still frozen in uncharacteristic shock. She stopped to put a hand over her aching left temple, the crushed flesh and bone there were constantly shifting between injured and healed and that only seemed to add to the pain. She put her hand down and soldiered on, arriving at the Luteces' table. She clenched her hands to the edge of the table to prevent herself from falling over. A tear flashed open above her and some variety of songbird flew out. Through chance from having taken a bird-watching class in his youth, Robert recognized it as an Australian treecreeper.

The little bird fluttered down to their table and began to chirp happily. Elizabeth regained her bearings and then swatted the bird away.

"Ms. Lutece, Mr. Lutece," Elizabeth panted, another tear opened behind her a pile of old president masks from Comstock house fell onto the street. "I'm alive!"

"Yes you are…" Rosalind said.

"We noticed," Robert finished.

"Actually," Elizabeth paused and swayed from side to side, her body flickered between several incarnations of her before settling back the battered form she'd appeared in. "I'm more than alive. I can… I can see _everything_! I can see the doors _beyond_ the doors!" She smiled as wide as possible, until her lips hurt. The Luteces would love this new information, that there was a state of existence even beyond what they, and herself, had previously experienced. Elizabeth was so happy to be alive and back that it didn't even matter to her that the Luteces would probably want to do some experiments on her. She might even let them!

Something was wrong though, the Luteces didn't seem happy at all. They were leaning as far back from her as their chairs would allow. Elizabeth frowned.

"You're supposed to be dead," Rosalind finally said.

"I know, and now I'm not. I remember… there was nothing, blackness," Elizabeth looked towards Robert, "And then you touched my face and… I saw _everything_." Robert looked down at his hand with a mixture of wonder and revulsion. "What's wrong?"

"And now it falls into place," Rosalind said, the burst of understanding having eclipsed her surprise. "Brother and I try not to physically interact with others, our unique quantum state can cause… side effects. Nosebleeds, memories that never happened, you're familiar with the ill effects of trans-dimensional travel."

Robert caught on to what Rosalind had discovered and picked up the explanation. "Thus when I shut your eyes, a similar reaction occurred. Because you already had a very… unique superposition, the reaction was increased."

"Yes, it brought me back to life, that's a good thing!" Elizabeth's smile was faltering. Rosalind noticed a tear with a hotdog cart and a pile of ammo open several feet away. The nearby Parisians screamed and ran from the sudden anomaly.

"No, it's not, and you're not Elizabeth," Rosalind said.

"What?"

"You're an echo of what Elizabeth was. Essentially, the universe had a faux pas and is trying manifest something that should no longer exist."

"You could think of it as 'quantum hiccup'," Robert added.

"Your mere existence is harming everything around you, unbinding the universe's laws. It's very dangerous and I recommend you disperse yourself immediately." Rosalind leaned back and waited for the sort-of-but-sort-of-not-Elizabeth to cease existing.

"No. You're wrong. I am Elizabeth, and I'm not dispersing anything!" Elizabeth said, her grip on the table intensifying to the point that the wood began to splinter.

With Elizabeth's worsening mood, the tears began to increase in size and frequency. A little boy who moments ago and been skipping along with a baguette held proudly above his head was now running for his life from a Big Daddy. A fire sprouted instantly and engulfed a nearby bookstore.

"Elizabeth stop this at once! You're destroying Paris," Rosalind demanded.

"No I'm not! I'm fine!" The Airship of the First Lady hummed into existence and collided the Eiffel Tower, sending them both crashing towards the ground. Elizabeth did not appear to notice. "You just don't understand. I'm more than you now, I can see, I can do _anything_. I can fix anything! I could even… Booker!"

Elizabeth vanished from sight, from this entire reality in fact. Robert and Rosalind looked at each other while Paris was engulfed in chaos.

"I think you could've handled that with a bit more tact," Robert said.

###

"Anna," Booker gasped. He reached into the crib and snatched up his infant daughter, cradling her to his chest. "It's alright. I'm here." He had no idea what had caused him to wake up with a terrible fear for Anna's safety. There was something about a girl, a city, a debt, the memories were foggy and fading every second. But that didn't matter anymore, Anna was safe.

"Booker!" He jumped at the voice behind him, whipping around to face the intruder, his arm shielding Anna. "Booker, it's me, Elizabeth."

"Listen lady, I'm giving you one chance to get out," Booker said. He had a feeling that this… Elizabeth, had something to do with his strange fear for Anna's safety. Booker clenched his free fist and glared at the intruder.

"Please, stop this. You're just going to break the poor fellow's mind." Robert adjusted his cufflinks as he and Rosalind appeared in the nursery.

"Who are you people?! And how'd you get in here?" Booker began to inch towards the door. If he got that far, he could make a dash for his pistol.

"I'm trying fix everything!" Elizabeth shouted, whether at Booker or the Luteces not even she could tell. Then to Booker alone, "Don't you remember?"

"You're trying to fix something that isn't broken." Rosalind stepped in front of Booker and Anna.

"Something we've spent 124 of his lives trying to accomplish," Robert added while pointing at Booker.

"What are you talking about?" Booker took another step towards the door. "Will someone please tell me what's going on?"

"QUITE, BOOKER!" Elizabeth screamed, "I'm trying to save you." This outburst woke Anna and she began to shriek.

"Now look what you did!" Booker slowly pushed the door open.

"See Elizabeth, this is wrong. You cannot 'fix' this. Come with us, and we can find a way to safely disperse you." Robert reached out and placed his hand on Elizabeth's shoulder, then screamed. He fell away clutching his hand, which had begun to flicker and fade as if caught in a tear. Elizabeth seemed as surprised as Robert and stepped back from him. He landed on the floor and curled into the fetal position, blood started to drip from his nostrils.

Rosalind checked to see if her brother was still breathing, then glared at Elizabeth. "_What… did you… do to him_?" Elizabeth had never seen Rosalind display any emotion, certainly not the rage on her face now.

"I… I don't know," Elizabeth stammered. "I'm… I'm sorry."

"You are a nothing more than a quantum hiccup," Rosalind said, quoting her brother. "And you must be rectified before you cause any further harm."

Elizabeth looked down at herself, then looked back at Robert, still lying prone on the floor, then at Rosalind. Something clicked in Elizabeth's mind, her own 'eureka' moment. Her eyes narrowed. "No."

"Excuse me?"

The door, which neither woman noticed had been shut moments prior, burst open. Booker stood at the other side, Anna safely placed at his desk. He took aim with his pistol and fired at Rosalind. It missed, of course.

"That's not going to work," Before Rosalind could finish explaining the futility of trying to shoot someone occupying a quantum superposition, Elizabeth lunged at her. She pinned Rosalind to the ground next to Robert, and Rosalind began to scream as he had.

The pain where Elizabeth touched her was agonizing. It felt as if _something _was being ripped from her piece by piece.

"_You_! You're the ones who need to be 'rectified', not me." Elizabeth said, "_You_ built Comstock's city, _you_ kidnapped me for him, _you_ made me kill Daisy Fitzroy… EVERYTHING IS YOUR FAULT!" She grasped Robert's neck and he resumed screaming as well. Booker stood impotently behind them, the situation having gone far out of his understanding.

"Shhh, calm down Madame Lutece," Elizabeth's voice was laced with sarcasm, then in terrifying seriousness said "I'm going to fix everything." And Rosalind and Robert Lutece's minds went black.

###

Rosalind knew nothing but pain. It felt like something had been sheared from her very essence. Even more horrifying, she did not feel the constant and tethering presence of Robert. Since the accident they'd been bound in some manner, always able to feel the other. Now Rosalind could not.

Her eyes stung as she forced them open, staring up into a bright blue sky. The cobblestone beneath her was warm from the constant exposure to the sun. Everything was altogether familiar, yet Rosalind was certain she had never been here.

She forced herself to sit up, grunting from the effort. A deeper version of her grunt came from Rosalind's left and she looked over. To her immense relief, she saw Robert in a similar state of recovery. Despite the soreness all over her body, Rosalind leaned over and embraced him.

"Brother," Rosalind said, pressing herself against him. Robert returned the hug and the two sat still for a moment. "I, I can't feel you. Quantumly speaking that is; I can feel your physical presence just fine."

Had this been any other moment Robert would have been amused by her analytics given the circumstance. "Rosalind?"

"Yes, brother?"

"I can't see the doors."

Rosalind's mind lurched with realization. She'd been too preoccupied to notice, but as she took full awareness of her surroundings she realized Robert was correct. She saw the city around them, but _only_ the city. Not the countless others that shared its position in space and time, not the city's past and future, just this moment. The Lutece twins looked at each other as the grim truth set in.

"She took it away," Rosalind said.

"She made us mortal," Robert finished.

###


	3. Another Columbia

_Originally this chapter was going to be much longer. But considering it had already spent two days unfinished, I decided the second half will be its own chapter._

3.

Another Columbia

With the realization of their mortality in hand, the Lutece twins separated and stood up. Rosalind took Robert's hand to help him up, but he grimaced and pulled his arm away.

"Sorry, it's still tender from… whatever that was," Robert explained. Rosalind found her brother being at loss for words more disquieting than his injury, but only a little more. This sort-of-Elizabeth-sort-of-quantum-god would pay.

"Well, I suppose we should figure out where we are." Rosalind shielded her eyes with her hand and looked around for any distinctive landmarks.

"Judging by the fact that the sidewalk we're on ends with a several thousand foot drop, I'd say we're in Columbia."

"I know _that_. The question I was trying to get across is in _which_ Columbia are we? While it superficially resembles the one we know, there is something… off… about it. Don't you agree?" Rosalind asked. She continued looking but had yet to find anything that would denote what sort of Columbia they were in. No Vox banners flying from burning buildings, no 'fires raining upon the Sodom below', it altogether seemed rather peaceful.

"How can there even be a Columbia? All the Elizabeths and Comstocks should have been erased after the Rapture incident," Robert narrowed his eyes and scratched his chin. "Unless,"

Rosalind caught on and picked up his speech, "The instability caused by Elizabeth is greater than we feared and it is undoing our work. I told you that venture was pointless."

Robert chose to ignore that last remark. "Then it is even more necessary than we thought to stop Elizabeth."

"You do realize, brother, that you are suggesting we, who I may remind are now nothing more than any other human, are to kill what is for all intents and purposes a god?"

Robert shrugged in response. "I don't see anyone else capable of the task. Besides, this is our fault."

"_Our_?_ Our _fault? I certainly do not recall coming into physical contact with Elizabeth. This is entirely the fault of yourself and your overactive sense of morality." Rosalind scowled. She had always feared that listening to Robert's flights of fancy and optimism would come back to harm them. And now he was trying to hold her as equally culpable?

Robert hung his head in acquiescence. "You're right, it's my fault. That doesn't change what I must do, though. I will fix this, or more likely, die trying. And I have no excuse for trying to force you participate in my error. I'm sorry, Rosalind." He began to walk away, more as a gesture than an action, since he had no idea where to go. It was entirely possible, if not likely, that this Columbia had a different layout than their home reality. Even if it wasn't, the Luteces had not actually needed to actually navigate the city since their 'death'.

Rosalind clenched her fists and gritted her teeth. She knew Robert's tricks, and she wouldn't fall for them. He may have persuaded her to help with the DeWitt business, but not this time. If he wanted to die horribly and alone then he could… Rosalind jogged after him.

"One day I am going to use your own methods against you," Rosalind said as she caught up to Robert.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," He responded with a smirk.

Rosalind felt that if she had been roped into this, it was only fair that she also provide a sense of logic to their likely fatal plan. "If we're actually going to do this, then our first priority will be to regain our quantum superposition." They continued to walk aimlessly forward.

"Are you sure that is wise?"

"We certainly cannot accomplish anything against the likes of her as we are now," Rosalind answered. "All we must do is find this Columbia's version of our lab and restore ourselves."

"By restore ourselves, I assume you mean kill ourselves?" Robert raised his eyebrow.

"It worked previously, so there is at least a precedent for its success. Also we do not have the luxury of time to find an alternate method. Let us go."

Rosalind and Rosalind stood perfectly still and pictured their former home. Nothing happened.

"What… Oh damn it! Of all the times to be mortal." Rosalind frowned.

"Perhaps a walk will do us good? Flittering in and out of existence can't have been helpful to our physiques," Robert chuckled.

"Honestly, brother. I don't understand how you can or why you should keep a sense of humor in a time like this."

"If I do not, then who will?"

As they resumed their stroll towards what would hopefully be their lab, Rosalind spotted a man exiting a nearby grocery. Both Lutece twins found starting conversations with strangers uncomfortable, and were often content to remain isolated from society at large. But desperate times call for desperate measures, so Rosalind walked over to the man.

"Excuse me, fellow citizen. Do you know what the fastest route to the Lutece Lab is?" The man started blankly at Rosalind.

"Who?"

"The Lutece twins? The architects of this grand city? Without whose knowledge and inventions it would be sent plummeting to the ground? There is a statue of Rosalind Lutece at least thirty feet tall?"

"I'm sorry ma'am, but the only person with a statue that also helped build Columbia is Mr. Jeremiah Fink."

Rosalind's face darkened in a mixture of surprise, arrogant shock, and a hint of sadness. "Fink? _He_ built Columbia?"

"If you don't believe me, that statue I was talking about is right around the corner." The man pointed to the left with his thumb then walked away. Before Robert could react, Rosalind had darted around the corner.

Robert caught up a moment later, panting from not having needed to run since their 'death'. He found Rosalind staring aghast at a golden statue of Jerimiah Fink, floating replica of Columbia above the statue's open hand.

"I'm… not a constant?" Rosalind whispered, unable to take her eyes of the statue of Fink. Robert put his arm around her shoulder.

"All it means, dear Rosalind, is that this Columbia is far inferior to our own," He said while gripping her shoulder tighter in a sideways hug.

"I suppose you're right. And… this doesn't change anything," Rosalind said, recovering her usual stern posture and expression. "If this reality's Fink is the one who discovered the Lutece field, it stands to reason he invented the Lutece device as well."

"Wouldn't it be a Fink Device, then?" Robert suggested.

"I will not dignify such a terrible name with a response to it."

###


	4. The Songbird

_As I cannot reply, here's a quick reply to Guest's review: You will see more of Booker and Anna soon, and Eldritch!Elizabeth (I love that name by the way) will show up more too, as she's the story's antagonist, but not for a little bit. Think of how few times you actually come face to face with Comstock or Atlas/Fontaine, etc._

_Also, this chapter is one of my favorite parts of the story, introducing an idea I'd had even before planning Robert and Rosalind are Dead._

4.

The Songbird

While Rosalind would never fully accept that in this universe, Jeremiah Fink had made all of _her_ discoveries; at least they had a semblance of a plan. "I suppose now we should find a map and discern the quickest route to Finkton," Rosalind suggested. Robert was looking away from her, his gaze fixed on a nearby skyrail.

"I have a better idea. The skyrails are used for transporting shipping containers, so it stands to reason they'd lead back to Finkton," He explained.

"You're forgetting something," Rosalind pointed the skyrail, then to Robert and herself. "Neither of us has a sky-hook."

Robert smirked and led Rosalind to a secluded alleyway. "Do you remember how you would send me on long walks those first few months we were together? Under the reasoning that time apart would help me adjust to your world?" Rosalind nodded, unsure why her brother bring up such a random event from their lives. "Well during those walks I learned much about Columbia, and its citizens, which you never bothered to find out," Robert continued as he lifted pieces of wood and cardboard and searched around trashcans. Whatever he was looking for, Rosalind had not the faintest the idea.

"One such discovery I made was that… aha!" Robert moved a large sheet of plywood that appeared to have been set up as a shelter. Behind it was a passed out Columbian guard, dozens of empty bottles of various types of liquor surrounding him. "That Columbia's police force leaves much to be desired."

Rosalind did not reply verbally, but the surprise was clearly evident in her face. "Oh come, Rosalind. How else do you think it was possible for a single man, military training or not, to lay waste to an entire city's security force?" Robert bent down and carefully slipped the officer's standard issue sky-hook from its holster. He gave the sky-hook a brief inspection and found it satisfactory.

With the sky-hook obtained, Robert and Rosalind backtracked out of the alley, just in case the officer was to awaken. When they arrived back at the street, Robert put the sky-hook on and gave the trigger a test pull. Its hooks spun at the standard rate and it seemed sturdy over all. It would do just fine.

"I don't mean to ruin your enthusiasm," Rosalind said, "but that is a single sky-hook, and there are two of us."

"I am quite aware of that." Robert took his free arm and wrapped it tightly around Rosalind's waist. She realized what Robert was planning, and did not approve.

"No! I know what you are thinking and I will not—" Before Rosalind could finish voicing her displeasure, Robert leapt forward. The sky-hook's magnets kicked in and the Luteces were airborne.

The sky-hook grabbed onto the rail with a metallic clang and the twins began hurtling along its path.

"Brother, I swear that if you drop me I will come back as a temporal apparition like Lady Comstock and kill you!" Rosalind screamed as she clutched onto Robert for dear life. However privately, Rosalind had to admit to herself that the rush of wind around them and feeling of unadulterated speed was _slightly_ enjoyable.

Robert was having less pleasant thoughts. He had made a grave error in assuming his hand had recovered from whatever contact with Elizabeth had done to it. A dull ache was beginning to course through it, and Robert felt his grip on the sky-hook loosen. He looked down at Rosalind and the empty sky below them and suddenly found himself terrified of heights. Even worse, Rosalind was weighing him down.

There was a city block floating ahead of them that the skyrail passed over. If Robert could hold on just long enough to reach it… With a scream, his hand gave out the Luteces were sent falling. Their forward momentum continued to propel the twins, and they landed just on the edge of the cityscape. Robert and Rosalind held each other and tumbled across the ground. They rolled inside another deserted alleyway and ultimately crashed into a garbage can. Stale cake, a minor fortune of silver eagles, a pineapple, and unidentifiable rotting garbage spilled everywhere while the Lutece twins lay panting in the wreckage.

"That was," Rosalind began.

"Incredible!" Robert gasped back.

"Horrible," Rosalind finished at the same moment as Robert's comment. Despite this, she was smiling ear to ear. "Let's never do that again." She sat up, Robert doing the same next to her.

They brushed any bits of excess trash off themselves, and pocketed the silver eagles just in case.

"Well, Jim. What do we have here? Some Irish scum scavenging for the good people of Columbia's lost money?" Two bulky men, one with a wrench and the other a handgun stepped out from the shadows.

"Excuse me? We're not Irish." Rosalind frowned in annoyance.

"Not that there is anything wrong with being Irish," Robert added.

"I don't think that's the sort of answer they'd like to hear," Rosalind whispered to him as the men drew closer.

"Hmm, Irish or Irish lovers, it don't matter," The one with the wrench said. "Still ain't welcome." Both began to walk forward.

"Yeah," the gunman agreed. "Maybe we should remind them what happens to their kind when they get outside of Finkton." They now stood only a few inches away from the Lutece twins.

Robert and Rosalind were defenseless against the thugs. Neither of them had ever fought anyone before. Sure, they had killed at least 125 lighthouse keepers and countless other assassins that the various Comstocks had sent after the various Bookers. But that was with the aid of immortality and all the other benefits of being physical gods, such as not needing to fight back. Right now, the best the Luteces could hope for is that these men would beat them to unconsciousness rather than outright kill them.

The man with the wrench raised his weapon up, then grunted and fell over. Robert and Rosalind's eyes darted to their fallen assailant and saw a feathered dart sticking out from the back of his neck. The gunman whipped around, in search of the new attacker. He held out his gun, ready to shoot at the slightest provocation.

A shadowy figure leapt from the building to the left and landed upon the right building's fire escape. The gunman fired three quick shots at the figure while it soared through the air, but each bullet missed. Before he had time to fire again at the fire escape, the figured jumped off and landed behind him.

Robert and Rosalind could now see that their rescuer was a young woman with shoulder-length blackish-brown hair, the end done up in a small ponytail. She wore an outfit superficially resembling the late Lady Comstock's, but with a blouse covering the corset and its dress replaced with pant legs. Hanging from a loose knot around her neck was a black cape covered in a mixture of raven and crow feathers, and an equally black mask was wrapped around her eyes. On her right hand, a thimble sat where her pinky should be.

She also wore a belt with loops added to hold a crossbow and a sky-hook. The latter was currently in her hand, being used to brain the gunman. With a thunk, he fell to the ground unconscious and the woman turned the face the Luteces.

"Are you two alright?" She asked. Robert and Rosalind stared back at her and tried to hold back laughter.

"We're fine, Elizabeth," Rosalind answered, barely preventing a chuckle from escaping.

Elizabeth gasped and drew up her feathered cape. "I… I don't know who you're talking about! I've never heard of anyone named Elizabeth. Nope, I, uh, don't even think it's a real name," she stammered.

Robert decided the best course of action was to play along. "Well then, who are you?"

Elizabeth smiled and stood up in a heroic pose, hands on her hip and shoulders back like a soldier. "I am Columbia's silent guardian. Her watchful protector. I am," She drew up her cape again, "The Songbird!"

This time the twins couldn't help but cover their mouths with their hands and giggled behind them. Elizabeth ceased her posing and frowned.

"I just saved your lives, you could at least show some gratitude," Elizabeth pouted. It seemed this reality's Elizabeth had yet to be introduced to a Booker DeWitt, or kill a Daisy Fitzroy. This was still Elizabeth the girl in the tower, except not in a tower and far more battle-capable. The Luteces could work with this.

"Thank you… Songbird." Robert held out his hand and Elizabeth gently shook it.

"I am Rosalind Lutece, and this is my brother Robert," Rosalind said while Elizabeth let go of Robert's hand.

"I am quite capable of introducing myself," Robert quipped back.

"Now, Elizabeth—" A dart just like the one which had put the wrench thug to sleep whizzed past Rosalind, coming centimeters from her cheek before lodging in the brick wall behind her.

Elizabeth lowered her crossbow. "Alright, how do you know who I am? Do you work for my father?"

"Comstock? No," Rosalind said, holding her hands up. Robert mirrored her. "We're not… from here." Rosalind's gaze lowered to Elizabeth's pinky-thimble. Elizabeth noticed and held her hand up, looking between it and the strange twins.

"Wait," Realization struck Elizabeth, "You're… you're from a tear, aren't you?" Robert and Rosalind nodded.

"In a sense," Robert added. "We have…" He tried to word this simply. No matter how different this Elizabeth was from the one they had known, it seemed unlikely that she would know advanced quantum physics. "…lost our own ability to manipulate tears and are trying to find a device of Jeremiah Fink's which should remedy that."

"Well, I am honor-bound to help those in need, but," Elizabeth said, "the only assistance I can offer is tell you to stay away from Finkton."

"You don't understand. It is of the utmost importance," Rosalind explained. "We need our abilities back so that we may kill you."

Elizabeth jumped back from them and raised her crossbow.

"No! Not _you_, another you, from another tear. It's very complicated," Robert said.

"So, I have an evil doppelgänger?" Elizabeth was in awe. "Finally," She murmured, "I have an arch-nemesis." Her face darkened. "But I still cannot let you do this. Fink has his own private army of hired thugs and handymen. You'll be killed before you even get within five feet of the Manufacturing Company's entrance. _I_ wouldn't even stand a chance."

"We appreciated your concern, but we must go to Finkton. This is not up for negotiation," Rosalind said sternly.

"Well…" Elizabeth thought for a moment, debating on whether or not what she was considering was worth a breach of her moral integrity. "How dangerous is this other me?"

"Dangerous enough that I fear all of reality would suffer the repercussions is she is not stopped," Robert answered.

"Then," Elizabeth began with some reluctance. "I can't get you inside Finkton. Not alone, but… I know someone who can help."

"Thank you, Miss Elizabeth." Robert did a small bow.

"Follow me," Elizabeth gestured forward to the Luteces and began to walk deeper into the alley, "they're not too far from here."

While Elizabeth led the way, the twins hung back, speaking to each other in hushed tones.

"I believe I recognize what reality we've found ourselves in," Rosalind whispered.

"Oh?"

"There was a tear I had been observing shortly before our deaths; you were out on some errand at the time," Rosalind began. "I only saw a few details before dismissing it, mainly about Elizabeth. In our reality one of the key events of her development was when, at age twelve, she found a book on Paris in her tower's library. In this reality, however, that book was not present. In its place was a novel called _The Scarlet Pimpernel_, the story of a French nobleman who dons a mask by night to fight crime and protect the innocent."

"So instead of developing a fixation on Paris, this Elizabeth gained an equally strong fascination with vigilantism? How fascinating," Robert concluded.

"Correct. This reality also lacked a songbird as we know it, which presumably allowed her to escape from Monument Island without any assistance."

"And yet she herself becomes, in a way, this reality's songbird. It continues to amaze me how thin the line between constants and variables may be at times."

"I don't mean to interrupt," Elizabeth chimed from ahead. "But we're here."

They had arrived at a small, wooden door. It was completely unassuming, which Robert and Rosalind recognized as meaning it was likely anything but. Elizabeth knocked on the door once, then whistled a birdcall which Rosalind, having liker her double taken a bird watching class in her youth, recognized as that of an Australian treecreeper.

A previously unseen hatch on the door slid away, and an eye stared back at Elizabeth and the Luteces. The hatch slid shut and the clinking of several locks being opened followed it. The door opened and a man wearing makeshift armor and a red scarf stood before them.

"Well if isn't the Songbird, come to the Vox after all!" The man showed Elizabeth and the Luteces in, and closed the door behind them.

They were inside a dimly lit abandoned warehouse. Vox Populi soldiers and supporters milled about, assembling weapons and practicing hand to hand fighting moves on training dummies styled to look like Fink, Comstock, and other important figures in Columbia. Most of them paid no attention to Elizabeth and the Luteces, and those who did turn to look quickly resumed their tasks.

The door guard took the three past these Vox and into what had presumably been the warehouse manager's quarters. The walls were lined with Vox Populi posters and a large mural of Comstock and Fink engaged in some particularly obscene actions. He opened the door to the former manager's office, and came face to face with Daisy Fitzroy.

"So you finally saw the light?" Daisy asked to Elizabeth. She scowled back at the leader of the Vox Populi.

"No, Fitzroy. The Songbird _doesn't_ kill, not like you and your band of terrorists," Elizabeth said.

"Then why are you here? And who're your Irish friends?"

"We're not Irish," Rosalind said.

"They need to get into Fink's lab. I know you're preparing an assault on Finkton, and so," Elizabeth grimaced, "We're willing to help the Vox in the attack. But we're not killing anyone!"

Daisy laughed. "One day, little Songbird, you'll learn that sometimes there ain't any way but killing. As for your offer, I can't afford to turn down any help. We've been preparing for this assault for over a year and I still worry about our chances." She leaned in closer to Elizabeth. "But those two, you sure you wanna' help them? By the looks of them, they won't last a minute in there."

"That's why I'm helping them," Elizabeth responded.

"Fine," Daisy crossed her arms. "We attack at midnight, so you'd best get those two battle ready, or least make sure they know how use a gun without shooting themselves in the face in the meantime."

The guard had already resumed his post at the door, so Elizabeth and the Luteces showed themselves out from Daisy Fitzroy's office.

###

"I'm going to go find some vigors and the least lethal weapons they have for you guys," Elizabeth said. "You stay here, you look like you could use some rest."

The Luteces certainly did look like they could use a break. They were both exhausted from the past few hours' events, plus their returned mortality was catching up to them. They hadn't needed to sleep since the accident, and both were dead tired.

"Perhaps she's right. We should rest our eyes for a moment," Robert said while stifling a yawn.

"Indeed," Rosalind said. The two then yawned in perfect unison.

"We can tell Elizabeth to she won't be accompanying us later," Robert added.

"What?" Rosalind was now wide awake. "We are doing no such thing."

"Do you really want to risk another Elizabeth's life? I don't know if I could live with myself if we caused the loss of another one." Images of Elizabeth's dead body in Rapture, and of himself whisking Anna to Columbia flashed through Robert's mind.

"We have to take her with us, brother," Rosalind said. "Because she… is the ace in our hole."

###


	5. Daisy Fitzroy's All-Out Attack

This chapter contains a shoutout to the fanfic, "Understanding Myself" by TR_Purin on ArchiveOfOurOwn. It was used with their permission.

5.

Daisy Fitzroy's All-Out Attack

Rosalind sat at her desk, slavering away on a set of theorems late one night. She was so engrossed in her work, based around the idea of manipulating the properties of a reality via tears, she did not here Robert approach from behind.

She flinched as Robert came to rest his head on her shoulder, but relaxed upon realizing it was him. "The twins request a bedtime story," He murmured into Rosalind's ear.

"Isn't that your area of expertise?" She responded, already resuming her calculations.

"Yes, but they said, and I quote 'we always hear daddy's stories. We want a mummy bedtime story tonight please'."

Rosalind sighed in defeat. "Fine, I shall attempt a story. I make no promises to their enjoyment of it. But I shall try my best," Rosalind said. Robert leaned away from her and she got up, headed to the twins' room.

Robert took Rosalind's place in the chair and read over her notes. They were extraordinary. Noble prize worthy, even. He scribbled in some additional notes, far inferior to Rosalind's work of course, for about fifteen minutes. After this, he figured it was time enough for Rosalind's story and that he should take the kids off her hands.

He crept towards the children's room, nudging the door open so as not to disturb their story. Rosalind was seated by the bed in a chair, a large book resting open in her lap. Robert could see tufts of fiery red hair peaking from behind Rosalind, though he could not tell from here if the twins were still awake.

"And so, as proven by all known experiments conducted in this field: when faced with travel between dimensions, the mind of the subject will desperately struggle to create memories where none exist. The End." Rosalind closed the book.

"You read them one of our academic papers?" Robert chuckled. He walked further into the room and came to stand besides Rosalind.

"Well it worked, didn't it?" She motioned to their children, which Robert could now see were in the deepest sleep he'd ever seen from them.

Robert shook his head with bemusement. "I can't argue with your results, Rosalind."

"Rosalind." He grabbed her shoulder and shook it, rather hard actually.

"Rosalind?" Robert shook her with greater intensity. "Rosalind?"

"Rosalind, wake up!"

Rosalind gasped and sat up from the spot on the floor she had chosen to doze off on. Robert was leaning over her. "Sorry, I must've dozed off for a moment," Rosalind apologized.

"As did I," Robert said. "I woke up just before you. You were saying something about 'the mind of the subject creating new memories' in your sleep."

"Oh, that. I was dreaming about… the scientific doctrine!" Rosalind answered. There was no chance she would add fuel to the fire for Robert's proposal.

_Honestly_, she thought,_ that dream was the result of a fatigued mind, nothing more. As if Robert and I would truly be content with that sort of life. He just doesn't realize the folly of his idea. The mere idea of it! Abandoning immortality! Having to sacrifice countless hours on the care of children! And all for what? So that one day when they inevitably win the Noble Prize and I can smugly proclaim 'those are my children!' to whomever is seated next to Robert and I in the auditorium; and then brother and I would grow old together and then we'd visit our grandchildren and… _Rosalind shook her head and tried to brush those thoughts away. Clearly she wasn't in the right state of mind.

"I dreamt as well. It's odd sensation after so long." Robert shivered. "It was about… the brothel."

"You never did tell me what happened there."

"What happened where?" Elizabeth walked up to the two, carrying two pistols and two vigor bottles. She set the guns and vigors on a nearby crate, then hopped up on it to sit next to them.

"If you must know, brother and I are… different, from most people," Rosalind began to explain.

"Everyone has their idiosyncrasies," Robert picked up, "ours include, among others, that we find physical contact with individuals whose touch we are not accustomed to very uncomfortable." The Luteces had not lied when they told the insane, quantum Elizabeth that they refused to interact with people due to side effects of their quantum state, but it was as much an easy excuse as it was genuine.

"While he has never told me the entire story, I have gathered this much. When Robert was attending university, his colleagues attempted to 'remedy' this lack of desire for intimate contact by taking him to a brothel. It did not end well."

"And that is all you need to hear about it," Robert snapped.

"I did once get him to mention that the paramedics had to be involved."

Elizabeth giggled at that addition and Rosalind couldn't help but smile a little with her. Robert crossed his arms and glared at them, but halfheartedly. He fought back the laugh rising in his chest, but let out an amused snort in the process. Elizabeth stopped laughing and got back to business. She motioned to the guns lying next to her on crate.

"These were the smallest guns I found," Elizabeth explained. "Make sure to fire only if absolutely necessary and aim for the non-vital areas."

"Well shall try our best," Rosalind answered with a thick lacing of sarcasm. If it came to the point where she would need to shot someone, Rosalind highly doubted she'd bother checking to make sure the wound would cripple rather than kill.

"Catch!" She tossed a pistol at each of the twins. Not expecting the sudden toss, the Luteces barely managed to grab hold of their weapons.

"I suppose that's a constant," Robert said. Rosalind nodded.

"Constant?" Elizabeth shrugged, it didn't matter right now. They had an attack to prepare for. She grabbed the two vigor bottles. "Anyway, they wouldn't let me borrow any of their regular vigors. But there was this pile of unmarked ones that they didn't mind me using. I think the man watching the vigors said they found these on a raid of Finkton's garbage. But it's the best I can do."

She held out the two bottles to the Luteces. Unlike most vigors, these were in simple grey canisters with a lid. Almost like a coffee thermos. They each took one and pulled the tops off.

"I looked inside earlier and, based on the color, I think that one," she pointed to Rosalind, "is possession. And yours," she pointed to Robert, "is ironsides."

"Well," Robert gave an encouraging smile to Rosalind. "Bottoms up, I suppose." The twins drank their vigors simultaneously. To Elizabeth it looked as though she were seeing double.

"So?" Elizabeth asked. Robert and Rosalind set down their vigor bottles, again at the same time, and stared at each other.

"Odd, no hallucinations." Robert observed.

"Hmm, that coupled with the strange design of their containers and how they were obtained," Rosalind began.

"Would suggest that these are rejected prototypes," Robert finished. "I wonder if that means we've just poisoned ourselves."

"If so, it's too late to worry about anything. We might as well see what they do." Rosalind held out her left hand and focused, trying to activate whatever vigor ability she had gotten. Elizabeth had thought it was possession, so she tried to possess a Vox soldier standing near a dry looking potted fern.

Rosalind's eyes widened and she cocked her head, as if listening to someone the others could not hear. "That fern," she pointed towards the potted plant. "It is unhappy with the level of sunlight it's receiving and humbly requests to be relocated to the nearest windowsill."

"You can talk to plants?" Robert raised his eyebrow.

"So it's not possession?" Elizabeth asked.

"I can understand plants, but," Rosalind pressed her hands against her temples trying to concentrate. "I can't respond to them. Someone please move that fern before it drives me mad."

Elizabeth went over to the fern and carried it to a windowsill. She set it down and gave it a little pat on the topmost fronds.

"The fern gives you its thanks, Elizabeth."

"I suppose I might as well try mine." Robert pushed his left hand out, trying to make something, anything, happen. Nothing did. "Did anything happen? I think mine might've been faulty."

Elizabeth and Rosalind were staring at him. "What?" Elizabeth wordlessly took out her sky-hook and held it up to Robert. It was polished enough that he could see his reflection in it. "Oh God!" Robert's hair was now blonde.

"I'm sorry, brother; blonde does not suit you at all," Rosalind quipped.

Robert stuck his hand out again and reactivated the vigor. Immediately, he looked at his reflection in Elizabeth's sky-hook. To Robert's immense relief, his hair had returned to its usual red.

"So I can understand, but not communicate, with plants," Rosalind began.

"I and am capable of altering the color of my hair," Robert finished.

"I feel our chances of success are diminishing by the moment."

Elizabeth nervously toyed with her pinky-thimble and refused to look the Luteces in the eye. "Well, we still have the guns, and I can always open a tear. And who knows, maybe those vigors will come in handy?"

Before the twins could voice their doubts, Daisy Fitzroy emerged from her office.

"All right everyone," she shouted. "For years, Fink's kept our Vox brothers and sisters in chains. Slaves in all but name! Workin' endless hours and forced to squat in shantytowns. Well tonight, we're gonna' teach Fink and all those Founders that we won't stand for it. Not now, not ever!" Daisy raised her fist up in the air and the Vox Populi soldiers repeated the gesture. Elizabeth and the Luteces raised their fists as well, though with more confusion than conviction.

"It's time for Daisy Fitzroy's All-Out Attack!" The Vox roared their approval. "And yes, that_ is_ what we're callin' it." Daisy ran towards the warehouse's southern exit. The Vox Populi all grabbed weapons and followed.

"Elizabeth, how long were we asleep?" Rosalind asked.

"About, eight or nine hours."

"And you didn't wake us up so we would actually have time to prepare?" Robert added, he was more exasperated than angry.

"You just looked so tired." Elizabeth was suddenly very interested in the Vox troops heading towards the exit. "We should probably follow them." She darted off before the Luteces had a chance to answer.

Robert shrugged and ran after her. Rosalind followed.

###

The Vox Populi strike team arrived at Finkton via hovercrafts roughly an hour later. A smaller group of scouts had traveled ahead by skyrail to take out the guards, ensuring them an easy entrance. Robert, Rosalind and Elizabeth were seated at one of the hovercrafts near the back, with several low ranking Vox soldiers. They had been placed with a team of specialists who were to raid Fink's lab for weapons.

"Here's the plan. Once the Vox start the attack, we'll use it as a diversion to sneak into Fink's lab," Elizabeth explained.

Rosalind stared out at the imposing Fink Manufacturing building. "Yes, then we find the Lutece device—"

"You mean the Fink device." Robert inspected his pistol and loaded several bullets into it.

"No," Rosalind scowled. "I mean the Lutece device."

The hovercraft lurched to a halt, jostling everyone inside. Without a word, the Vox soldiers jumped off. Elizabeth and the Luteces leaned over the edge to see where the Vox had landed. Robert and Rosalind gulped, there was nothing but a narrow ledge in front of a window. The Vox soldiers clung to it, then leaned back, shattering the window so they fell into the building proper.

"They cannot seriously expect us to do that, can they?" Rosalind asked to Elizabeth, only to realize she had already jumped and was scurrying through the shattered window.

Elizabeth poked her head and arm out and waved to the Luteces. Robert shrugged at Rosalind and took a leap of faith. Now alone, Rosalind decided she'd rather fall to her death with Robert than be alone and jumped. The two quickly realized they had jumped too strongly as instead of landing on the building's edge, they flew straight through the window. The portion of the window which remained un-shattered.

Elizabeth ducked as glass shards flew everywhere. The Luteces thumped onto the ground, their clothing, and visible skin, covered in small scratches.

"At least the glass broke easily and not into large pieces," Robert said as he got up. The twins brushed the remaining glass off themselves and nodded to Elizabeth that they were ready to go.

Elizabeth stalked around the hallway they had found themselves in, her crossbow held out and primed to fire. Her other hand was tightly clutching the grip of her sky-hook, ready to knock a guard over the head with it at a moment's notice. Robert and Rosalind followed behind her.

Around the next bend in the hallway, Elizabeth stopped dead in her tracks. She turned around and raised her finger to her lips, shushing the Luteces. Up ahead were two guards.

"Shouldn't we be out there fighting the Vox? I heard they've taken the plaza!" One of the guards said. He glanced about, as if expecting a Vox soldier to show up at any moment.

"Fink said we have to watch the lab," the other responded. "Besides, what're a bunch of paupers and shantytown rejects going to do to us?" He fired his gun at the ceiling. Little bits of plaster rained down around the two guards and they laughed.

"I'd like to see a Vox try and take—"

"Secret attack!" Elizabeth yelled. A crossbow dart, thicker that those she normally used, landed at the feet the guards. Small hatches on the sides of the dart sprang open and green fumes spread outwards. The guards didn't have time to even finish inhaling the gas before they were on the floor unconscious.

"What was that about?" Rosalind asked, arms crossed and clearly annoyed.

"It was a… secret attack," Elizabeth murmured. "Because… they didn't know I could do that." Rosalind just stared at her. Elizabeth forced a laugh and scratched the back of her head. "Let's just… keep going."

The trio ventured deeper into Fink Manufacturing. Elizabeth would soundlessly leap from shadow to shadow, any guard on patrol quickly found himself tranquilized or brained with a sky-hook. They had come to a three-story room with a solid gold statue of Fink in its center. Around the statue were two staircases leading up to the different floors. Elizabeth inspected her crossbow, frowned, and dropped it.

"I'm out of darts. I'll go scout for some ammo. You two stay here." Elizabeth took out her sky-hook and leapt to a nearby freight hook. From that vantage point she dropped onto the third floor's stairwell and vanished from the Luteces' sight.

A crash came from nearby, followed by the cursing of a guard. Rosalind scurried to the statue of Fink and went to the side opposite of the noise. Robert followed. The peeked around the statue's base and saw a guard wearing thick armor enter the room. His helmet was held in the crook of his arm, the left side of it crushed.

"Stupid Vox. Now I gotta' get a new helmet." He walked straight towards the twins' hiding place.

With no other options apparent, Robert reached for his gun, and his hand closed around thin air. "I left my gun," He began.

"On the hovercraft," Rosalind finished. They were unarmed, and the guard was drawing ever closer. Robert saw a crowbar propped up against some nearby crates and made a run for it. He grabbed the crowbar and scrambled back to Rosalind. She stared at him and raised her palms in a silent question.

"The weapon of choice for theoretical physicists," Robert explained.

"Hey! Who said that?" The guard snapped to attention. He ran in the direction of Fink's statue. Rosalind pressed herself against the statue's base. Robert did the same but also gripped his new crowbar tightly.

Rosalind's left foot brushed against the statue's base and her heel caught on a groove. She tugged her leg forward to no avail. A strange click came from the statue as Rosalind continued to attempt to free her foot.

The guard rounded the statue and pointed his gun at the twins. "Freeze!" Before he could shoot, the section of the statue's base Robert and Rosalind were leaning against swung away. The twins fell into the newly exposed doorway, Robert dropping his crowbar in the process. The door snapped shut and the guard began pounding his fists on it.

"Come out here and let me kill you!" Rosalind braced herself against the door in case the guard figured out how to open it.

"Secret attack!" A loud thump sounded from the other side of the door. Rosalind cautiously pushed the door open and Elizabeth entered. "What is this place?"

"It appears to be some sort of secret compartment." With the moonlight shining in from the open door, Rosalind could now inspect the room. She located a switch on the adjacent wall. "Perhaps…"

Elizabeth flicked the switch. Lights flashed on from each corner of the hidden room's ceiling. A mechanical hum began to fill the air.

"Why did you do that?!" Rosalind scowled.

"You were looking at it, I thought you wanted someone to press it?"

Robert prepared to reprimand Elizabeth when the floor began to descend.

"It's an elevator!" Elizabeth exclaimed.

"But where does it lead to?" Robert asked.

The elevator ground to a halt. A door opposite to the one they had entered from slid open and light flooded into the room. The twins and Elizabeth stepped out, shielding their eyes. As their vision adjusted, Elizabeth gasped and the Luteces smiled. Standing in front of them was a near perfect replica of the Lutece device. Around the room were several doors and balconies, presumably meant for various scientists moving in and out to work on the device.

Rosalind slowly approached the device and reached out to touch its left arch. She reached down and pressed several buttons on the control panel. A tear flickered opened, showing a crowded city street with a dense smog blotting out the sky.

"Now, I just need to short circuit its generator and that should do the trick." Rosalind had taken a panel of the machine's side and was toying with the exposed wires.

Robert went over to help Rosalind sabotage the device, while Elizabeth stood guard. She heard the faintest sounds of footsteps above her. Elizabeth looked up and gasped.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the Songbird," Jeremiah Fink clapped sarcastically from the balcony. He noticed the Luteces and frowned. "And… who the hell are they supposed to be? The Irish Wonder Twins?"

"Why does everyone in this reality assume we are Irish?" Rosalind had her entire right arm buried in the Lutece device's wiring, searching for the main power source.

"Ah, it doesn't matter." Fink waved his hand, then reached into his pocket a pulled out a hand cannon. "You have no idea how long I've waited to 'pluck your feathers', little Songbird." He laughed and aimed the gun at Elizabeth's head. "I wouldn't move if I were you. Not to brag, but I'm a pretty good shot."

"Don't worry about me, go through the tear!" Elizabeth cried to the twins.

"We're not leaving without you!" Robert called back.

"Just a few more moments and I should be able to overload its tear generators!" Rosalind added.

"So, Songbird, any last words?" Fink put his finger on the gun's trigger. Elizabeth's eyes widened. Then she smirked.

"Secret attack."

A wrench collided with Fink's head and he fell against balcony's railing. Daisy Fitzroy stepped out of the shadows behind him, casually slapping the bloodied wrench against her palm.

"I'll just be takin' Fink with me." Daisy let the wrench fall the floor and grabbed Fink by the collar of his shirt. An alarm sounded and Daisy dropped Fink. His head slammed against the balcony railing on the way down. "I shoulda' known he'd have a failsafe!" Daisy swore under her breath. The surrounding doors flew open and guards charged in.

"Boys, get out here now! I'm not letting Fink win!" Vox soldiers teemed out from the other balconies and leapt to the floor. The two groups opened fire on each other while Elizabeth went over to the Luteces.

"Rosalind, through the tear now!" Robert grabbed her around the waist and pulled. Rosalind would not budge from the wiring.

"Just a few more moments and they will be the least of our concerns."

"We are being shot at!" A bullet grazed Robert's shoulder. It tore through his jacket and shirt, but luckily missed his skin.

"I am quite aware of that, brother. But this could be our only chance to restore our quantum superposition."

"I'd rather live a mortal than die riddled with bullets." Robert continued to pull but Rosalind held her ground.

A tremendous roar startled the fighters on both sides. Elizabeth turned in the sound's direction and pulled out her sky-hook. Something massive had forced itself through one of the doorways and was now shoving Vox and Finkton soldiers aside like playthings. It was a handyman, the largest Elizabeth had ever seen.

"I HAVE AN ITCH BUT I CANNOT SCRATCH IT!" The handyman bellowed in a mixture of anger and pain. It spotted the Luteces and charged towards them. "PROTECT THE FINK DEVICE!"

Rosalind was still attempting to sabotage the device, and Robert continued to try and pull her away. Elizabeth narrowed her eyes, clenched her fists, and sprinted towards them. She barreled into Rosalind, her force combined with Robert's finally knocking Rosalind away from the wiring. Elizabeth shoved the twins through the open tear and fell in after them, just as the handyman's fists came down on the Fink device. It exploded in a blinding flash of light.

###

"Wow," Elizabeth stared in wonder at the city they'd found themselves in. "I've never actually gone through a tear before."

Robert was still holding onto Rosalind. "That brute destroyed the Lutece device. It was our only chance, brother." Rosalind hung her head down.

"Actually, I don't think it was," Elizabeth said. "You two really need to see this." She pointed ahead of them, to a pair of statues holding up a welcome sign.

Rosalind and Robert's eyes widened. The statues were of Rosalind, and the sign read "Lutetia".

"They got my chin completely wrong."


	6. Lutetia

6.

Lutetia

Lutetia was a city without a sky. Wherever one looked up, they would see nothing but a thick coat of smog hanging just above the buildings' summits. The buildings themselves were made from copper and other metals, with mishmashes of pipes covering some or fanning out like streetlights. Small bursts of steam would come from joints in the pipes every few moments, to let off excess pressure.

The Luteces and Elizabeth had passed the Rosalind Archway and were now searching for a newspaper, or a kinetoscope, or anything that could give them any clues towards the nature of this reality. Citizens of Lutetia milled about all around them, going to and from home, hawking wares from stands, or just taking a stroll. Their attire tended to be Victorian in theme, with top hats and goggles and visors (presumably to keep the smog out of their eyes) appearing to be the height of fashion. Sprinkled through the crowds were strange beings lacking any hair, clothing, or even visible genitals. They were hunched over and completely disregarded by the citizens. Elizabeth and the twins tried to pay no attention to the creatures as well, so as not to stand out.

"Look, a newspaper stand. I think." Elizabeth pointed across the street to a rectangular, metal contraption with a clear front showing the latest issue of the _Lutetian Post_. Rosalind ran over to the stand and hunched over it. Robert and Elizabeth caught up but were unable to see past Rosalind.

"What does it say?" Robert asked.

Rosalind began to read from the paper. "And so the year of 1912 draws to a close with our Lady and High Technocrat Rosalind Lutece still without an heir. While hundreds of potential suitors campaigned to take her hand, she has refused them all. One may ask why the love affairs of the architect of our noble Lutetia warrants coverage in the _Post_, but this editors assures you it is a subject of the utmost importance. No disrespect is meant towards our Lady, but we must acknowledge she will not be in childbearing age forever. This editor fears what would become of Lutetia should there be no Lutece to govern us." The rest of the paper was obscured by the stand's metal frame. Rosalind backed away and crossed her arms.

"It appears this version of myself is not a quantum physicist, otherwise she would have remedied this suitor predicament _ages_ ago." She gave the slightest hint of a smirk at Robert. He smiled back.

"Wait a second," Elizabeth looked from Robert to Rosalind several times before she understood. "Eww…" Rosalind led them into an alleyway, lest their discussion arouse suspicion in Lutetia's citizens.

"Oh come, there's no law in any reality that forbids such a relationship between one and one's own self from another." While speaking, Rosalind began to pull the pins out of her hair. Once they were all removed she brushed her hair back. To Elizabeth's surprise, Rosalind's hair actually fell past her shoulders when down.

Robert and Elizabeth continued to stare at Rosalind while she stored her hairpins in a pocket on the side of her coat. "What? I'm ensuring I will not be mistaken for Lutetia's Rosalind. It would unnecessarily complicate matters."

"You are beautiful with your hair down," Robert said.

"Now is hardly the time for such sentiments, brother. Do think you it's possible that your hair color vigor could be applied to the hair of others? It would strengthen my disguise."

Robert held out his left hand and concentrated, trying to focus the vigor's energies on Rosalind instead of himself. His eyes widened in shock.

"Well, did it work?" Rosalind tapped her foot.

"You could say that…" Elizabeth bent down and picked a large glass shard from the alley's floor. She then handed it to Rosalind.

"Chartreuse!?" Rosalind ran her left hand through her now green hair. Robert stood with his head down and hands clasped behind his back, unwilling to comment.

"At least it matches your plant vigor," Elizabeth said.

"The idea was to make me _less _conspicuous." Rosalind glared at Robert. "Change it _now_."

Robert held out his hand again. Nothing happened. "I'm afraid I'm depleted. You don't suppose this reality has salts do you?"

Rosalind buried her face in her palms. First they'd lost their chance with the Lutece device, now this.

"I could go out and find you a hat," Elizabeth suggested. "I'd stand out the least of anyone. My cape is like a gentleman's cloak, and I could say the mask is for my eyes."

"It's as good a plan as any." Robert nodded to Elizabeth and she departed. He leaned against the alley's wall. Rosalind quickly mirrored his posture.

"Would this be acceptable compensation for your lack of presence in that last tear?"

"I am not speaking with you." Rosalind turned her away from her twin.

"Does your hair color really bother you this much? I understand we are likely the greatest narcissists in existence, but—"

"No, I am upset because this venture has gone horribly wrong at every junction and yet you still treat it as some evening stroll through the multiverse."

"Well what good would I be if I did nothing but bemoan our chances of success. A positive mind is the first step towards victory, dear Rosalind."

Before Rosalind could answer, she heard the faintest hint of music. She shushed Robert and cupped a hand over her ear.

_Never gonna' give you up, never gonna' let you down… _That certainly didn't sound like the sort of music any reality's 1912 would produce. A tear had to be nearby. Rosalind followed the music with Robert in tow.

They rounded a corner and came to an oddly deserted plaza. To the left was the entrance to an apparently abandoned hotel. There was a tear in the middle of the plaza, but that wasn't what caught the twins' attention.

"There you are! I stole a hat, and some more darts for my crossbow," Elizabeth waved to the Luteces from the alley they had exited from. "Sure it violates everything I stand for but desperate times call for desperate measures and—"

Elizabeth stopped dead in her tracks, again not at the sight of the tear. Standing in front of it was another Elizabeth. A very angry Elizabeth.

"What are _you_ doing here?" Quantum Elizabeth pointed at Robert and Rosalind. The other Elizabeth snapped out of her shock at the realization that this must be her evil doppelgänger.

"So we meet at last, arch-nemesis." Elizabeth walked around the Luteces and struck a heroic pose. "Prepare to face justice at the hands of," she drew up her cape, "the Songbird!" Elizabeth let her cape fall, revealing that she taken out and loaded her crossbow.

Before Quantum Elizabeth had time to make sense of this, her double fired the crossbow. The dart hit Quantum Elizabeth on her collarbone and lodged itself in. She plucked the dart out and tossed it to the ground.

"What?"

"Songbird?" Quantum Elizabeth laughed. "You think _you're_ the Songbird? You don't have the faintest idea." A horrible screeching noise filled the air. The Luteces retreated behind a nearby bench but their Elizabeth stood her ground. She didn't realize what was coming.

The sky darkened even more so than normal for Lutetia. Quantum Elizabeth had opened a massive tear, and a mechanized being resembling a giant bird flew out. It let out another unearthly shriek and landed in front of Elizabeth. Quantum Elizabeth blinked out of existence, leaving the Luteces and their Elizabeth alone with the true Songbird.

The Songbird leaned down at Elizabeth. Its eyes were yellow, but then rotated inside its head to be replaced with green ones. The twins breathed a sigh of relief. Then the Songbird's eyes switched again, to red, and it raised its right fist.

Had this been any other Elizabeth, she would have been crushed. But this Elizabeth had years of vigilante to hone her reflexes. She back flipped away micro-seconds before the Songbird's fist slammed against the pavement. Elizabeth landed next to the Luteces.

"What is that?" She asked.

"The Songbird, of course," Rosalind answered.

"And it seems to be very confused by the presence of an alternate Elizabeth," Robert added. "I fear it's decided you're not the one it wants to protect." He looked over to Elizabeth but saw only empty space.

Elizabeth had darted out the corner of the plaza. "Hey you! Over here!" The Songbird turned towards Elizabeth and shrieked. Elizabeth smiled. "Secret attack!"

She opened a tear, and a samurai phased into this reality. He looked around in shock, then noticed the Songbird. The samurai gripped his katana and leapt towards the Songbird's face. The Songbird swatted the samurai away and he flew like a ragdoll through the air before crashing several feet away from Rosalind and Robert.

"Now would be an excellent time to retreat!" Robert called to Elizabeth. She ran towards the Luteces, and the Songbird moved to intercept her.

Elizabeth ducked and rolled away from the Songbird's grasp. She and the twins made a run for the hotel to the left. Instead of bothering with the door, Elizabeth took her sky-hook and smashed a window open. The trio clambered in and ran to the check-in desk.

The Songbird cried out in frustration and began tearing at the wall of the hotel. It created a hole large enough to force its head through, and would soon have the entire wall down. Elizabeth noticed a seam in its leather and metal covering. She aimed her crossbow and fired.

Her tranquilizer dart flew straight. It went directly to the seam on the Songbird's head… and ricocheted off. The dart bounced backwards and hit Robert in square in the left thigh. Robert opened his mouth as if he were about to say something, then passed out.

The Songbird struggled against the hotel's wall, and would soon be fully inside the lobby. Rosalind grabbed Robert by the arms and hauled him up the stairs while Elizabeth stood in front of them. She continued pointing her crossbow at the Songbird in the desperate hope it would intimidate the creature.

"Fire!" A barrage of gunfire sounded out, while flashes of light shown from the hole the Songbird had created. The Songbird cried out and withdrew itself from the hotel lobby.

"Lutetia appears to have a far more competent police force than Columbia," Rosalind observed. "Quickly, Elizabeth. We should get out of sight before they choose to investigate the lobby."

"That assumes they can kill that thing," Elizabeth replied, but picked up Robert's legs to help Rosalind carry him anyway.

They climbed two stories when Elizabeth spotted a hotel room with the door open. Once inside, Elizabeth locked the door while Rosalind laid Robert on one of the two beds.

"For how much longer will he be unconscious?" Rosalind took one of Robert's in hands in hers and held to her chest.

"It depends on the person. Most people are out for a few hours, but sometimes it can take longer. Maybe six or seven hours?"

"Then I suppose there's nothing we can do but wait." Rosalind moved Robert over and sat down on the edge of the bed.

"There's nothing we can do at all!" Elizabeth shouted. Rosalind jumped at the girl's outburst. "Did you _see_ her? That other me… that was a _god_! I beat up thugs and racists, not… whatever she was." Elizabeth sat down on the adjacent bed and stared at her lap.

"By physical means, yes, we stand no chance against her," Rosalind conceded. "But that is exactly why you are here."

Elizabeth looked up at Rosalind and cocked her head. "What are you talking about?"

"You are Elizabeth. So is she. The universe doesn't like contradictions such as that. I theorize that if you and your quantum counterpart were to touch, it might disperse her. Or it could further destabilize reality," Rosalind shrugged, "But that's the most promising idea I've had since this nightmare began."

"So," Elizabeth looked at the palms of her hands. "All I have to do to save reality… is touch myself?"

"Yes, but I would recommend you find another way of saying that."

###

Rosalind and Elizabeth waited for hours in the hotel room. Robert did not awaken, but the Songbird also didn't try to attack them again. Either the Lutetian police force had killed it, or the Songbird had lost interest in them. After three hours, both of them dozed off.

###

Robert slowly opened his eyes and looked around. He didn't recognize the room he was in, or why he was on a bed. There was someone sleeping next to him, their arm draped over his chest. He began to sit up, which woke Rosalind.

"Brother! I mean, ah, you've awakened," Rosalind said.

"Where are we?" Robert asked, holding a hand to his forehead. He was still somewhat groggy.

"An abandoned hotel room. As far as we can tell the Songbird is gone. You are recovering from a tranquilizer induced episode of narcosis."

Robert nodded. "Yes I remember that part." Rosalind turned her face away from him. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, brother. I had just worried, completely unfounded, that you would not wake up. Elizabeth assured me that her darts could not kill, but these were ones she had just purchased, stole, from somewhere in this city. Tranquilizer darts she has not used before." Rosalind paused and ran her hand down Robert's cheek. "I am just, very pleased that you are alright."

###

Elizabeth rolled over in her bed, still half asleep. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes, which then shot open at the sight before her. Robert was awake and sitting upright on the other bed, Rosalind was straddling his abdomen. They were kissing with a fervor that Elizabeth had only seen inside the books she had found in Columbia's seedier districts while on patrol.

"Um… I am interrupting something?" The Luteces jumped and separated from each other.

"Nothing at all," They both said very quickly.

Rosalind got off the bed and brushed at nonexistent dust on her dress. "Well, now that everyone is awake, I suggest we leave this place." Without any further discussion, the three composed themselves and left the hotel room.

The lobby had a tarp placed over the hole made by Songbird. Otherwise there were no signs of the battle which had occurred mere hours before. Robert pulled the tarp aside and they stepped out into the plaza.

"Look, the hat I brought you is still here!" Elizabeth ran over to a scratched but still intact ladies' top hat. She picked it up and brought that hat over to Rosalind.

Rosalind gingerly took that hat and placed it on her head. She tucked the still visible strands of her green hair inside. The trio began to walk out of the plaza.

"Not that your disguise is settled, I have an idea," Robert said. "I believe this other Rosalind may be of use to us."

"You honestly think she would help us?" Rosalind frowned, mulling over the idea.

"She is us, and I am positive that I would help myself."

"I disagree, I would not help another myself without reason that would benefit the self I inhabit."

"I am living proof that not all of our selves are so pessimistic."

"And I am living proof that not all our selves are so altruistic."

"Maybe he can help us?" Elizabeth butted in. She pointed towards a small door build into the corner of an apartment building. It said "Booker DeWitt: Investigations into Manners both Public & Private".

###


	7. Manners both Public and Private

7.

Manners both Public and Private

Everything was going wrong for Elizabeth. She didn't want to admit it, but couldn't deny that she was having more and more trouble controlling the tears. Her attempt to reconcile with Booker had gone horribly as well, thanks to Luteces. She had been generous, more so than they would have been to her, by sparing their lives. And now that act of kindness has been repaid by the twins _still_ trying to destroy her.

Elizabeth would fix everything. She would make a world without a Comstock, or a Columbia, or a Rapture. A world where she, and Booker and maybe even Sally could live in peace, as a family. But now it was clear she would not be able to do this alone. Perhaps the Luteces were correct when they said she was unstable? No! They were _wrong_, they had always been wrong. However she couldn't deny that they knew more about quantum physics than anyone else, they knew more in general than anyone else. _Anyone_, realization struck Elizabeth, _except another Lutece…_

###

"You got a name, miss?" Booker looked up from his desk at the oddly dressed girl who'd entered his office. She scrunched-up her nose, apparently unused to the stench of cheap liquor and cigarettes which hung in the room. This girl didn't seem like the kind of person who'd require the services of a washed-up private eye, but Booker would never turn down a job. Not in this economy.

"Elizabeth," she paused, unsure as to whether or not her secret identity was preferable to "the Songbird" here. Elizabeth decided it was. "You can call me Elizabeth."

Booker felt a slight pang in his temple at the girl's name, but shook it off. He had been drinking pretty heavily last night, and perhaps he was still a little hung-over. "So what can I do for you… Elizabeth?"

"I need you to get an audience for myself and my associates with Rosalind Lutece," Elizabeth stated. Booker stared at her for a moment. Then he burst out laughing.

Elizabeth glared at Booker while he tried to compose himself. "That's real funny, miss."

"I'm serious." Elizabeth placed her hands on her hips and frowned. Now Booker was starting to think he might still be in a drunken slumber.

"Well, for one thing, how the hell do you think I could get you a meeting with Madame Lutece? I'm a private investigator, not a secretary." Booker reached into his desk's drawers for a flask. If he was dreaming, then a drink wouldn't matter. And if he was awake, Booker had a feeling he was going to need it.

"Well, you look like you're of the rouge-ish type. I thought you'd have connections and inside knowledge, and those sorts of things." Elizabeth scratched the back of her head.

"Even if I did know how to get you there," Booker took a sip from his flask, "you said you have 'associates'. How do I know this isn't some sort of sting or assassination attempt?"

Elizabeth held up her index finger, then went to the door. She opened it slightly and whispered something that Booker couldn't make out. Elizabeth walked back up to him with two nearly identical people, a man and a woman, in tow.

The twins, they had to be twins, Booker thought, looked terrible. They were covered in scratches and bruises, and their clothing was torn in multiple places. The man's right sleeve was half torn off at the shoulder, as if a bullet has grazed him there. His pant legs were worn thin at the knees, the left having started to tear slightly. The woman's dress was torn in several places, and what Booker assumed was once a necktie had been reduced to shredded rags hanging on her chest.

"Hello," the man waved, his fingers nervously twitching. "I am Robert Lu… Lucinda. And this is-"

"Rosamond," Rosalind answered.

"Rosemary," Robert finished.

"Th-that's his… nickname for me," Rosalind added. The Luteces smiled and hoped Booker was drunk enough in this reality to believe them.

Booker leaned forward and squinted at the twins. There was something incredibly familiar about them, though he couldn't place it. "Have I seen you two before?"

"I don't believe so," Robert answered, a little too fast.

Booker might've been inebriated, but one didn't become a private eye if they lost all deductive reasoning after a drink. He _knew _something was up with these twins, and Elizabeth. They didn't appear dangerous, but looks were always deceiving.

Robert leaned towards Rosalind and whispered something. Booker strained to hear it. "We should leave immediately. We're just going to break the poor fellow's mind."

_"Please, stop this. You're just going to break the poor fellow's mind." Robert adjusted his cufflinks as he and Rosalind appeared in the nursery._

_"Who are you people?! And how'd you get in here?" Booker began to inch towards the door. If he got that far, he could make a dash for his pistol._

_"I'm trying fix everything!" Elizabeth shouted, whether at Booker or the Luteces not even she could tell. Then to Booker alone, "Don't you remember?"_

"YOU!" Booker shot to his feet, grabbing a pistol lying on his desk. He aimed it the twins, who raised their hands in surrender. "You thought I wouldn't remember you? You and… Elizabeth!" Booker moved the gun to face Elizabeth, she too raised her hands.

"I lost everything because of you!" Booker shouted. "Twenty years; that's how long it's been, hasn't it? Twenty years since you showed up in my office and left me stranded in this hell-hole. Twenty years since this place took Anna from me!" He placed his finger on the trigger.

"Wait! We're not who you think we are!" Elizabeth pleaded.

"No, actually Robert and I are who he thinks we are," Rosalind said. "However that is not the Elizabeth you encountered, Mr. DeWitt."

"Did you say you lost Anna in this world?" Robert asked.

"Now is hardly the time, brother."

"You sold her to pay off a debt, didn't you?" Robert continued, ignoring his double's plea.

Booker dropped his gun in a mixture of shock and conclusion. "What are you talking about? What kind of monster sells their own daughter?" Rosalind rolled her eyes. "No, that man, Fink, he offered but I turned him down." Booker stood motionless, as if in a trance. "He came back with some soldiers, took Anna. I chased after them but they went through some sort of… hole. Never saw or heard of them again." Blood was starting to trickle from Booker's nostrils.

Rosalind caught on to what Robert was theorizing. "Do you really think?"

"Well Fink's device did have a tear open to this particular world." Robert walked up to Booker. "Mr. DeWitt, this is very important. Did you daughter receive any injuries during her abduction?"

"I… I tried to pull her back, but I wasn't strong enough. All that was left was her…" Elizabeth gasped. She held up her hand, showing off the thimble where her pinky would have been. "…pinky."

Booker stared at the deformity, his mouth agape. "Anna?" He ran to Elizabeth and hugged her.

"Well isn't this just charming?" Rosalind scoffed.

"At least he's not pointing a gun at us anymore."

Booker separated from Elizabeth and looked at the Luteces. "I… you brought Anna back…"

"And may you show your thanks by obtaining an audience for us with Madame Lutece," Rosalind ordered.

"Like I said, I can't do that," Booker leaned against his desk, "But I could get you near her lab through... other… means."

"That will suffice. We must contact Rosalind on a matter of the utmost importance. It relates to the stopping of the Elizabeth you encountered twenty years ago."

"I'm not sure what currency is used in Lutetia, but we do have a small amount of silver eagle coins we can pay you with." Robert fished around in his pocket for the coins he'd collected earlier.

"You gave me back my daughter," Booker put his arm around Elizabeth and smiled. "This one's on the house."

###

_Should I start referring to Vigilante!Elizabeth and Anna, or would you prefer for her to remain Elizabeth?_


	8. Lutetian Society

_I've heard some good arguments from both sides on the Elizabeth/Anna name, so she'll remain Elizabeth in this chapter but transition to being referred to solely as Anna in an in-character way as the story progresses. Thanks to everyone who helped by giving feedback on this. _

8.

Lutetian Society

"We'll go to the farmer's market. There's an easy way into the sewers from here," Booker said while holstering his pistol. He walked over to the office's coat rack and grabbed a pair of goggles.

"The sewers?" Rosalind grimaced.

"I said I can get you inside her labs, never said anything about _how_ we would get there." Booker explained as he put the goggles on. "I don't have any extras, but you should try and find some. They say if you stay outside without 'em for too long the smog'll make you go blind."

"We don't intend to stay very long," Robert said. Booker shrugged.

Booker marched out of the office, the Luteces and Elizabeth in tow. The group continued onward through the streets of Lutetia. While the constant smog made telling the time of day impossible, based on the increased number of people milling about, the twins guessed it was either midday or just after work. The strange, hunched over creatures were out in full force as well, emptying garbage cans and sweeping away any refuse on the streets.

"What are those things?" Elizabeth asked Booker.

"They're wretches. Madame Lutece's 'flawless solution for the issue of poverty'," Booker scowled. "If you're poor, that means you're not pulling your weight in Lutetia, so you get taken by the police and turned into one of those. Wretches don't think or do anything for themselves, they just serve."

"I'm sure that's not her idea. Rosalind Lutece surely must be little more than a figurehead for these changes," Rosalind said. She knew objectively that if Booker DeWitt could be Zachary Comstock, then another Rosalind could be equally vile, but she did not want to entertain the thought. Besides, that would greatly reduce the likelihood that this Rosalind would be willing to help them.

The group came to a large square lined with temporary stalls. A banner which read "Lutetia Farmer's Market" hung from between two buildings at the entrance.

"Come to think of it, how can Lutetia even have a farmer's market?" Robert glanced at the various stalls. They were filled with baked goods and standard fair crops such as corn, wheat, various fruits, and an unusually large amount of lettuce. "One would assume the smog would hinder any attempt to grow crops."

"You'll see." Booker had his back to the three and was rooting around in a nearby trashcan. Elizabeth stared at him, wondering what could possibly be worth digging into all that garbage. Booker pulled out a half-eaten sandwich, gave it a look-over, and then took a bite.

Elizabeth gagged. "Why would you…? There's plenty of non-garbage food all around us."

"Hey, food is expensive," Booker answered in-between bites of the sandwich. "So is rent, bullets, and vitae. You'd never guess how much I save, and unless you wanna' end up a wretch, every cent counts here."

Once he had finished the sandwich, Booker wiped his hands on his shirt. "Well, there's some people here I've gotta' talk to. They owe me a couple favors so I think I can get them to let us into the sewers." He started walking towards the far end of the market.

"Sounds alright to me," Elizabeth said and trotted up to him. Booker stopped and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Anna, you can't come with me. I just got you back, and I'm not lettin' you go near this place until I'm sure these guys will help. Could just as well try and kill me."

"But I'm not _just_ Anna," Elizabeth pouted. "I'm also Elizabeth," she drew up her cape, "the Songbird!" Booker stared at her with a mixture of confusion and desire to chortle. "What I mean is I've been on my own for years, I can handle myself. I'm not the baby in a crib you lost."

"It's not happening. Stay here with… whatever their names are," Booker gestured to the Luteces, ", until I get back. Then we'll all go together. If I'm not back in an hour, just go back to my office." Booker trudged off.

Elizabeth had no intention of staying and was about to follow Booker when the Luteces grabbed her by the arms.

"He's right you know," Robert began.

"You are familiar with the dangers of Columbia. This city is a giant unknown," Rosalind finished.

Elizabeth frowned, but couldn't deny their reasoning. She relaxed her arms and the twins let go. "So, what do we do now?"

"Take in the scenery?" Robert suggested.

"Perhaps see if this world has any equivalent to vigors and salts?" Rosalind tugged her hat lower, as some strands of green hair were beginning to peek out.

Without a clear plan, the three took to wandering around the farmer's market, making sure not to stray too far from where Booker had last seen them.

"Oh, look!" Elizabeth pointed towards a nearby food stall. "Candy-floss! Do you think they'd accept silver eagles? I guess it's worth a shot." She darted off to the candy-floss stall with a spring in her step.

"Some people are far too in touch with their inner child, don't you agree, brother?" Rosalind looked over to Robert but saw empty space. She whipped her head back to the food stall and saw Robert had actually beaten Elizabeth to it. Rosalind pinched the bridge of her nose.

The candy floss vendor, after some haggling, had agreed to accept the silver eagles once he was made to understand they were actual silver. Now the three sat on a bench, Elizabeth and Robert eating their sticks of candy-floss, with Rosalind sitting between them.

"Are you sure you don't want one, Miss Lutece? We have more silver eagles."

"That's quite alright." Rosalind straightened her posture and decided she would just sit perfectly still until Booker returned.

"Lutetia does not appear to be the sort of place where candy-floss is readily available," Robert added. "I'll doubt we'll get another chance while we're here."

Rosalind looked back at forth from Robert and Elizabeth, then leaned over and snatched up a bite from Robert's candy floss stick. She drew away like a snake recoiling after an attack, fast enough that Elizabeth did not even notice. Robert did notice, and just smirked at Rosalind.

###

Booker returned thirty minutes later. His shirt was untucked on one side and his knuckles were bruised, but otherwise he seemed alright.

"Apparently the guy who owed me was drunk when he first told me he owed me. I had to remind him," he explained. "Follow me." Booker waved them forward.

He led the three deeper into the farmer's market. They past stalls with all manner of produce, from carrots to radishes, and even more varieties of lettuce.

"Is that a joke? The lettuce?" Rosalind asked.

"Perhaps it's not called lettuce here, but instead called," Robert began.

"Lutece? Brother, I am not _that_ egocentric."

"The Rosalind I am speaking to right now, perhaps. But the one the here saw fit to name an entire city after herself."

"Why do you keep doing that?" Booker said from ahead of them.

"What is it we're doing," Rosalind began.

"That bothers you?" Robert finished.

"That! That finishing each other's sentences thing. It's just… weird."

"What a ridiculous thought," Rosalind scoffed. "Now it would be cause for concern if we were to stop finishing each other's…" She paused, waiting for Robert to pick up her train of thought.

"…sandwiches?" Rosalind stared aghast at Robert. "I'm kidding." She glared at him.

Booker stopped and raised his hand. He pointed to an alcove which had two Lutetian guards stationed at its sides. One of the guards had a fresh black eye. He jumped at the sight of Booker, but put on his best smile. He and the other guard retreated into the alcove, where they began to lift a manhole cover from the ground. They set the cover aside and motioned for Booker and the others to go into the manhole.

The four climbed down with little fanfare. Booker went first, followed by Elizabeth, then Rosalind and last, Robert. Once Robert has fully descended, the guards picked up the cover again and closed it over the manhole.

Elizabeth and the Luteces expected the sewer to be cramped and pitch black. To their surprise, it was well lit by a mixture of gas lamps and rudimentary electric lights hanging from the ceiling. The passage itself was spacious, with pathways complete with railing at the base of each wall. In between flowed a brownish stream of sewage, which took away from their wonderment. It did smell exactly like they had expected, though.

"Why would they need such a large sewer?" Elizabeth pinched her nose shut to ward off the stench.

"You'll see." Booker led them forward, and rounded a corner. Their first glimpse of the sewer had been unexpected, what stood before them now was shocking.

They had come to a massive room, the ceiling lined wall to wall with electric lights. The sewage river had been channeled into canals which ran between rows and rows of crops. Corn, tomatoes, wheat, and lettuce, among others all were growing in the underground farm. In between the rows, wretches labored, gathering up the ripened crops and tending to those that were still growing.

Booker chuckled at Robert's shocked face. "You did say they couldn't farm up there with all the smog. Besides, they've got an endless supply of free fertilizer here."

"I thought you meant Lutetia's crops were imported from farms outside the city."

Booker raised his eyebrow. "There ain't nothing outside of the city. Just dead and polluted wastelands."

"Well, I will certainly bring this up with Rosalind when we meet her; but this is of no concern to us right now. We must keep going," Rosalind ordered.

"Wait!" Elizabeth held out her arm to stop Rosalind from walking away. "Do you think you could use your plant vigor to understand the crops? They might know something. Like a secret route or information on any guards."

"That's…" Rosalind began to chastise Elizabeth, but paused, "actually a somewhat reasonable idea."

"What's a vigor?" Booker asked.

Rosalind ignored him and held out her left hand. She activated the plant vigor and stood completely still. The others waited for Rosalind to say or do something. Suddenly, she cried out and pressed her hands against her ears, trying in vain to block out a noise that did not come from sound waves.

"They're screaming! They're screaming and they know what they're growing in and they want to _die_!" Rosalind ran towards the nearest patch of corn and began frantically tearing them up at the stalks. "Stop screaming!" She fell her knees, clutching her head with one hand and using the other to uproot more corn.

"Rosalind, just stop using the vigor!" Robert shouted.

"Seriously, what's a vigor?!" Booker asked again.

Rosalind's reserve of salts ran out, and the screaming finally ceased. She remained on the ground, panting with frequent hitches in her breath. Robert ran over to her.

Robert helped Rosalind to her feet, though she waved him away. "I'm, I'm fine, brother." She dusted herself and walked back to Booker and Elizabeth. They were staring ahead of the Luteces. "What?"

"The wretches are trained stop anyone from interfering with their jobs," Booker explained. Robert and Rosalind turned around to see four wretches closing in on them. The largest stood up to its full height, which was roughly equal to Booker's, and let out a pained roar that barely qualified as human. The Lutece twins gulped.

###


	9. Her Majesty the High Technocrat

_Alright, I've been very excited for this chapter, as it's a big turning point. However I warn you it's far darker than anything else in the story. And there's some blood and gore. So be advised._

9.

Her Majesty the High Technocrat

The largest of the wretches was never able to finish its roar. Elizabeth fired a tranquilizer dart straight into its chest. She ran forward and swung her sky-hook, knocking two other wretches off the ground. The final standing wretch lunged at her, but Elizabeth whipped around and fired another bolt. It was unconscious before it even hit the ground.

"They weren't so tough," Elizabeth panted. She holstered her sky-hook and crossbow, then theatrically dusted her hands off.

Another inhuman roar interrupted Elizabeth from her preening. She turned to see dozens of wretches streaming into the farm from various tunnel entrances.

"That roar must've alerted every damn wretch in the sewer!" Booker shouted. He pulled out his pistol and fired into the approaching mass of wretches.

"Hey! The Songbird doesn't kill!" Elizabeth grabbed Booker's arm and tried to wrench the gun away from him.

"Yeah, and Booker DeWitt doesn't let his daughter get killed by wretches!" Booker held out his free hand and released a murder of crows which descended on the mass of wretches, temporarily slowing them. The group took this opportunity to sprint towards the nearest exit from the farm-room.

"_That _is a vigor, Mr. DeWitt!" Rosalind yelled as they ran. DeWitt wondering what vigors were when he had one was just the sort of annoying stupidity that plucked Rosalind's nerves raw.

"What are you talking about? That's a nostrum. Murder of Crows."

"Hmm, constants and variables," Robert mused.

"So if vigors are nostrums, then what are salts?" Rosalind asked.

"I doubt he can answer you, as that question was far too vague for his level of reasoning on the matter," Robert answered.

"Well there is only one counterpart to vigors, so presumably there would be only one counterpart to nostrums. Thus he should easily be to discern what salts are now that he has a reference point."

"You're forgetting that Rapture had gene tonics on top of plasmids and eve. It's possible this reality may have only one genetically altering substance. Or perhaps four? Or five?

"They do realize we're running for our lives, right?" Booker asked to Elizabeth.

"I think it comes on instinct to them, like a reflex."

The group continued their mad dash, with the clawing and skittering of the wretches drawing constantly closer. Booker had a small internal reserve of salts left, and used them to send out a Bucking Bronco trap. Upon collision with the trap the wretches leading the pack were thrown up into the air, impeding the progress of those behind them.

Booker took the opportunity to shoot at the levitating wretches. After several shots each, their mid-air struggling ceased. The bodies fell to the ground but this was no obstacle for their living comrades. The many more remaining wretches climbed over the bodies and resumed their chase.

There were far too many; Booker would run out of ammo and salts long before their numbers would be exhausted. Elizabeth knew that something else had to be done if they were to survive. She looked around for any spot where reality appeared weaker to her, a spot where she could open a tear. There was one area, it looked like it might be… a hotdog cart. Still seeing no other option, Elizabeth opened the tear anyway.

The hotdog cart blinked into existence right in front on the oncoming wretches. Elizabeth cheered as the wretches ran headfirst into the cart, hitting with enough force to destroy the cart, and knock themselves out. In the cart's place lay a pile of splintered wood, hotdogs, and confused and concussed bodies. Booker seized the opportunity and shot at every exposed-wretch head he could see, especially on those who appeared to still be conscious. He did not stop until he ran out of bullets.

Once his ammunition was depleted, Booker holstered his pistol and started running. "Come on, the entrance should be just up here." The others followed, however somewhat confused.

"How did we?" Elizabeth began to ask.

"What? Did ya' think we were just running blindly through the sewers? I made sure we stayed on the route. Now less talking, more running in case any of those things wake up!"

They reached a set of steel doors, unlocked. Elizabeth and the Luteces reasoned this must have been part of the guard's favor for Booker. Booker started to push the left door open, Elizabeth immediately volunteered to push on the right. This left the Luteces an opportunity for a private conversation Rosalind had been waiting for.

"Now that we're out of earshot, brother. I feel we need to discuss the issue with Mr. DeWitt."

"What do you mean?" Robert frowned, trying to figure out what would be wrong with this Booker. "His paternal instincts are much better than in past universes we've observed. I think he might a capable father figure for Elizabeth… Anna… Anna-lizabeth?"

Rosalind ignored her brother's musings on how Elizabeth should be referred to. "That is precisely the issue I'm worried about. I fear this Booker DeWitt would not allow her to do what must be done. Especially if he understands how dangerous it will be."

"Are you certain it would be dangerous? Only one of were harmed by our first interaction." Robert reflexively brushed at his upper lip, memories of being half-conscious and dripping blood clouding his mind.

"We were in my world. These Elizabeths are in the home reality of neither, thus I believe both may be destroyed."

Robert's expression hardened. "Then she, and Booker, deserve to know of the risk." He started to walk over to the struggling DeWitts. "Mr. DeWitt! Elizabeth! I have an important-" Rosalind slapped her hand over Robert's mouth.

"You would sacrifice reality itself just to alleviate your own sense of guilt? I thought you were of the 'the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few' sort, brother," She spat into his ear.

"Yes?" Elizabeth asked. She and Booker had gotten the doors open and were now staring at the Luteces.

Rosalind took her hand off Robert's mouth and glared at him, waiting for an answer. "I… was just wondering, how should we refer to you now, Elizabeth?"

"Oh, I hadn't really thought of that." Elizabeth put her finger to her lower lip in a gesture of thought. "I've been Elizabeth as long as I can remember, and I still think of myself that way, but… now I know who I really am, and her name is Anna… I… I'm not sure."

Booker seemed disappointed at this answer, but he didn't say anything. Instead he went through the opened door. Elizabeth/Anna quickly followed, and the Luteces brought up the rear. Robert hung his head down and stared at the floor as they walked.

"You made the correct choice, dear," Rosalind whispered to him, far more comforting than usual.

"I'm not sure I can agree with that."

Booker shouted over their whispered conversation, causing the twins to jump. "This's the passageway they use to bring food into Lutece Labs, so luckily we're not gonna' be coming out of any toilets."

He held the doors open for the Luteces. "Vitae," he told Rosalind as she walked by.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Your 'salts' stuff, if you mean the resource for nostrums, it's called vitae here." Rosalind stared at Booker, after her talk with Robert she had completely ruled out DeWitt being able to figure out what she had asked earlier. "You're welcome." Booker motioned for Rosalind to get going. She passed through the door and Booker followed, letting his side of the door close after him. Elizabeth did the same with her door the two slammed shut.

###

Her Majesty the High Technocrat Rosalind Lutece did not like her job. Running the last bastion of progress and scientific advancement in a world that had nearly exhausted its natural resources left far too little time for her to actually do any scientific endeavors of her own. But as long as Lutetia's existence meant a little girl with a passion for knowledge wouldn't have to fight everyone else in the world to become what she was meant to be, then it was a worthy sacrifice for Rosalind.

At that moment, she was seated on her "throne". In actuality it was a simple, cushioned chair that she would sit in when discussing important political matters. She was a scientist who happened to rule the city, not a monarch, but the nickname had stuck.

To each side of the throne were banners displaying the Lutece Labs insignia, as well as a red carpet leading from the hall to the main exit. It was other sparse in décor, the room's sole purpose was to accommodate anyone who needed to speak with Madame Lutece on matters political or scientific. Sadly, it was almost always political.

She had been alerted that the guards had captured four intruders who had entered via the crop delivery tunnel. Rosalind's… new acquaintance, had warned her about them, so she had ordered for the prisoners to be brought to her immediately. Rosalind would not discount the possibility these visitors would be hostile, and so had come prepared. She inspected the ornate handgun she'd brought with her, and deemed it satisfactory. She loaded it with six bullets, more than enough to take down four restrained intruders. Especially if Rosalind's acquaintance was correct on the identities of two of them. She could never be outsmarted or outmaneuvered by herself.

From the right, a door opened and guards brought in the handcuffed Lutece twins, along with Booker and Elizabeth. Booker and Elizabeth also had ankle-cuffs, as they had put up much more of a fight.

"Greetings. I am Madame Rosalind Lutece, and I understand you seek an audience with me. Well you have it now." Madame Lutece stood and tucked the gun in her coat pocket. She inspected the group before her, the first two were unrecognizable, but the other two… "Yes." She stepped forward until she was face to face with the other Rosalind.

"Incredible," Madame Lutece ran her hand down Rosalind's cheek, then rubbed her own cheek. They felt identical. She grabbed Rosalind by the sides of her head and titled it back and forward, looking into her eyes, stretching her lips. Everything looked the same as the face she saw each morning in the mirror. "She was right."

Rosalind's top hat fell off and her still green hair tumbled down. "Chartreuse?" Madame Lutece gasped.

"An unfortunate accident with a nostrum," Rosalind explained. "It is supposed to be the same color as yours, of course."

Madame Lutece smiled at this answer. There was no doubt in her mind now that this was indeed herself. She moved on to Robert, repeating the same inspection of his face. With her hands still clutching Robert's head, she pulled him forward and kissed him. Robert's eyes shot open as wide as they could.

"Ahem," Rosalind scowled. "He is spoken for."

Madame Lutece let go of Robert, who pulled away with a stared blankly ahead, unsure of what to make of preceding events. "I am merely testing a hypothesis, dear sister. A hypothesis that has been proven correct. No one could kiss me like that but myself." She stepped back to take in both Luteces at once.

"What were the names of our parents?" She asked.

"Oliver," Robert began.

"And Vivian Lutece," Rosalind finished.

"Where did we attend university?"

"We traveled abroad for a scholarship at Columbia University in New York City," Rosalind answered, privately noting the irony of the school's name. She was positive Robert was doing the same.

"And that is where we made out breakthrough discovery, the…?"

"The Lutece particle," Robert answered.

Madame Lutece scratched her chin. "Hmm, that then, is where we diverge. So you were… physicists?" Robert and Rosalind nodded. "I never much cared for the infinitesimally small. My passion, is engineering. And that passion became… Lutetia." She raised her arms in display of the room they were in in. "My breakthrough discovery was the invention of a steam engine that could extract quadruple the amount of power from coal compared to any other device. The Lutece engine."

Madame Lutece gestured at the guards standing on either side of the group of intruders. "You may remove their cuffs. Just those of my… siblings." The twins had their handcuffs removed and they both rubbed at their sore wrists. Madame Lutece came forward and wrapped her arms around the two.

"We shall make such discoveries together," she said. "The three greatest minds in existence, working in tandem."

"Actually we are on important business," Robert pulled away from the group hug. Rosalind did the same, a moment later.

"Yes, we are searching for a quantum instability that threatens reality itself. It must be rectified or unimaginable damage will be done to the universe," Rosalind added.

"We formerly maintained a quantum—" Robert started to say.

"Superposition, which you wish to reacquire to better address this threat." Madame Lutece answered. The twins' faces darkened.

"How did you know that?" Rosalind began.

"You said you weren't a physicist," Robert finished.

"No I am not. But I've known about the both of you for a little while now. I've been expecting you, in fact."

It was actually Elizabeth who realized first what Madame Lutece meant. "Oh no."

The other Elizabeth, constantly shifting between her various incarnations, blinked into existence. She glared at the twins, as well as her vigilante duplicate. They all looked to her for an explanation. Expect for Booker, who was more confused on why he apparently had another, shape-shifting daughter.

"Madame Lutece is smarter than either of you. She says she can stabilize me. Let me control the tears." Elizabeth pointed at the Luteces. "You just wanted to kill me! You wouldn't even look for another option!" she spat.

Rosalind looked to her own duplicate. "And what do _you _get out of this arrangement?"

"Lutetia is dying," Madame Lutece answered. "This city requires more resources to sustain itself than the Earth can produce. Within the next two decades the last of the world's lumber, oil, coal and fossil fuels will be exhausted. But Elizabeth, once I stabilize her, will be able to open tears to an infinite number of worlds. Worlds that we can harvest to supply Lutetia for an eternity. And I? I shall devise a way to elevate myself to Elizabeth's position in quantum space. I shall be Lutetia's immortal guardian. High Technocrat of existence itself."

Robert and Rosalind stared at her. "It won't work. She can't be stabilized."

"And even if she could, I don't believe that destroying endless worlds to feed a city's appetite for resources is a noble goal," Robert added.

"So will do not wish to join me in this process?" Madame Lutece asked, looking directly at Robert.

"Your entire venture is doomed to failure. And even if it were not, I could morally condone such actions."

"Very well." Madame Lutece pulled the gun out of her pocket and shot Robert twice in the chest. He crumpled to the floor.

"ROBERT!" Rosalind fell to her knees and placed Robert's head in her lap. "Robert! Robert, brother. You…"

Robert tried to say something, but all that came out was a throaty gasp, followed by blood leaking from his lips.

"Now. You may share his fate, or work with me on this grand experiment," Madame Lutece said.

Rosalind took Robert's cooling hand, tried vainly to blink away her tears, and laughed. "You… you killed him. And… you think that'll… that'll make me want to join you? I'd rather die than live without him!"

Madame Lutece shot Rosalind in the head. Her body fell on top of Robert's and they were still.

"Such a waste. I had high hopes for them. But Lutetia comes first." Madame Lutece looked over at the still restrained Booker and Elizabeth. Elizabeth was crying, and Booker seemed to be in shock-induced trance. His eyes wide and mouth hanging open.

"You shouldn't care about them, Elizabeth," the quantum Elizabeth said. "They were the cause of all our problems. They were just going to kill me, and that means they'd kill us."

"I'm not you," Elizabeth, the Songbird, growled. "I'm not Elizabeth. I'm Anna DeWitt!"

Elizabeth frowned. "Then Anna, I have nothing to say to you."

"What should we do with these two?" The guards asked Madame Lutece.

"Oh, I don't care. Kill them, imprison them, turn them into wretches, whatever you please." She waved them away. "On second thought, wretches would be the most preferable outcome. I think it will please our guest." Madame Lutece smiled at Elizabeth.

The guards nodded and dragged Booker and Anna away. Once they had left the room, Madame Lutece turned to face Elizabeth, who was still frowning.

"You killed them…" Elizabeth muttered.

"Yes, isn't that what you wanted?"

"No, I mean, yes, but… I didn't think it would be like this. I thought it would feel like when I killed Comstock. But it… doesn't." Elizabeth down looked at her constantly shifting hands.

"Well you'll get over it." Madame Lutece walked away towards her chambers. "I must be off. Call someone to dispose of the bodies, would you?"

After she had gone, Elizabeth knelt down in front of the bodies. "You had to die. It was the only way. I tried sparing you, and you just proved it wouldn't work." Elizabeth pushed Rosalind's body off of Robert's and she flopped down next to him.

Their eyes hadn't shut. Robert had died looking up at Rosalind. Rosalind's hadn't had a chance to close, the bullet hole right above them having killed her instantly. They may have been wrong, misguided, and would have stopped at nothing to kill her. But… Elizabeth felt they at least deserved the same courtesy they had given her.

Not worrying about the blood, she ran her palm over Robert's face, forcing his eyes shut. Then she did the same for Rosalind. Her hand flickered each time she did this, but her entire body shifted almost constantly. So Elizabeth thought nothing of it.

"Dead bodies?" A cleaner entered the room with two guards. "Ah there they are. Assassins I take it?" Elizabeth half-nodded, half ignored them. She blinked away. The guards dragged Robert and Rosalind out of the room, while the cleaner got to work on the bloodstains.

###

_There's something about those last three paragraphs…_


	10. Sister

_After the extreme darkness of the last chapter, I felt there should be a breather. So here's the polar opposite, definitely the sappiest thing I've ever written. _

10.

Sister

As Robert had laid dying moments ago, he had expected his life to flash before his eyes. This did not happen. He reasoned that perhaps this was due to the fact that, until a short while ago, he had been the summation of all Roberts that ever had existed and will exist. It would simply be too much to recall in the moments before death. Instead, his mind focused on one particular memory.

###

1894

Columbia

It had been roughly a year since Robert had crossed over. The past few months had left him well enough to finally reveal his existence to the public. Much to Rosalind's displeasure, this meant attending many social functions, providing interviews on how he would be assisting in bringing a new age to technological advancement to Columbia, posing for kinetescope films and more. They even had to stand as if walking mid-stride for hours so a portrait of them could grace the front page of the _Saturday Evening Post_.

Rosalind hated these excursions, but they did seem to help Robert feel that he had integrated himself fully into her world, and so she tolerated them. However there had been something odd during those occasions. Despite the fact that Robert was known by the public as "Lutece's Brother" more than by his actual name, he would never call Rosalind his sister.

On one particular day in November of 1894, they had been at a dinner Comstock had arranged for the Founders and socialites of Columbia. The Luteces had no choice but to attend, an 'invitation' from Comstock was not to be turned down. They had mingled as necessary, carefully observed what they could of up and coming businessman Jeremiah Fink, whom neither could stand, and left as soon as possible. However, during their time at the dinner, Robert had attempted to act more assertive. He knew that the people of Columbia didn't so much see him but a shadow of Rosalind, and even though it was in some ways correct, he wanted that to change.

To accomplish this, Robert tried to introduce them whenever greeting anyone at the dinner. This led to him constantly saying variations of "Hello, I'm Robert Lutece and this is my… um, this is Rosalind."

After they returned home, Robert thought nothing of it. He was just glad it was over. The truth was, while he did better at social events than Rosalind, he didn't enjoy them any more than her. Being born and raised as a man meant he was forced 'man up and suck it up' when dealing with these things in childhood, and had learned to imitate the 'normal' way of acting at such events. Robert walked into the living room and sat down on the nearest chair. He closed his eyes and let his fingers twitch and wiggle as if he was moving an invisible coin between them. It was an almost unconscious action which relieved stress for him.

"Robert?" Rosalind came into the living room. Robert grimaced. When Rosalind did not address him as 'brother,' it usually meant she had something serious to talk about.

"Yes?"

"Why is that you appear to be unable to refer to me as your sister?"

Robert gulped. He had expected something like her complaining about him having left the seat up again, or that she had found out he'd put sleeping pills in her tea when she had insisted on staying awake for several days to work on the Lutece device without a break. Those would be easy, but answering _this_ question? That would be extremely dangerous.

"Well… technically we are not siblings," He answered.

"I am aware of that. However you know as well as I do that we cannot go around introducing each other as 'this is myself from an alternate reality where I was born the opposite sex'." Rosalind crossed her arms over her chest and stared at him. She wasn't going to give this line of questing up, it seemed.

Robert would have to choose his next words very carefully. "Yes, I know. But I feel…" this was getting harder by the minute. "I feel that… I, I don't want to think of you as my sister." Robert's eyes widened. That sounded far worse out loud than it had in his head.

Rosalind was equally taken aback by the statement. "Well," She turned away from him. "Are you happy here? We can always send you back if that's what you want."

"No!" Robert shot up from the chair and put his hand on Rosalind's shoulder. He forced her to face him. "I don't mean that at all. I don't want to think of you as a sister because that implies a familial relationship, a strictly platonic relationship." The words tumbled out of Robert's mouth before he could properly realize the impact of what he was saying.

"You…" Rosalind arched her eyebrow. "Don't want a _platonic_ relationship?"

Robert's cheeks reddened. This had gotten even worse than he expected it could possibly be. He had to find some way to salvage this.

"What sort of relationship _do_ you want, then?" She leaned closer to him, narrowing her eyes in thought. There was no escaping this conversation's logical end. Rosalind would certainly force him to leave, if not the lab than this entire reality. But he had to get it off his chest.

"A… Rosalind…" The words were congealing in his throat. "You're… You are not my sister. And I do not want to pretend that you are, because... you complete me." Rosalind's eyes widened, she blushed slightly as well. "You are the only person I could imagine spending the rest of my life with. The only woman I could ever call my wife. The only…" He stopped, that had gone too far.

Rosalind grabbed Robert's shoulders and he flinched, expecting some sort of verbal attack and possibly a slap. Then she was kissing him. After a moment of shock, he returned the kiss and wrapped his arms around her.

She pulled away for a quick breath. "Do you have _any_ idea how long I have been waiting for you to say something along those lines?"

"What? I never would've thought..." This genuinely surprised Robert, Rosalind had seemed an almost asexual being. Though considering she had initiated the kiss it shouldn't have surprised him at this moment.

"It is far easier to conceal on my part. For example I do not have to sleep with my back to you to hide such desires."

"You noticed that?"

"Do you take your own self for a fool?"

"I suppose not," Robert said then resumed kissing Rosalind. They fell back onto the chair he had been sitting in moments ago.

On their next pause for air, Rosalind spoke again. "If it is alright with you, I would prefer to continue calling you brother. There is no word for what we are, and I have grown quite fond of it as a solution. That is all. I assure it's not out of any fetish for incest." They both shuddered a little at the thought.

"I shall respect your wishes," Robert said. "And… I shall try to call you sister when necessary to keep up appearances."

"Thank you."

"I love you, Rosalind."

Rosalind recoiled in shock. "You're getting quite ahead of things."

She waited a split second before chuckling at Robert's horrified expression; he was not, in fact, the only of the two with a sense of humor. She kissed Robert on the bridge of his nose. "I love you too, brother."

###

With that memory fresh in his head, and staring up at Rosalind, Robert Lutece died as happily as could be expected in the given situation. Then there was nothing. He knew nothing, felt nothing, perceived nothing.

And then…

###

_Originally this was going to be the opening for the chapter, a Robert equivalent of Rosalind's dream from chapter five. However it stretched much longer than I had planned, and I figured it could serve on its own a mini "breather" chapter. _


	11. They're Dead, Booker

_Sorry for the delay, hopefully this chapter should make up for it. _

11.

They're Dead, Booker

The guards had taken Anna and Booker from Lutece labs and loaded them into a motorized carriage. While not quite equal to an automobile, it was far more advanced than anything in Columbia. Booker and Anna had burlap sacks put over their heads to prevent them from being able to discern their location should they escape.

After what seemed like hours the carriage stopped. The two were half-carried, half-dragged for a few minutes before having their cuffs removed. Each was then strapped to a cold, steel table and at last had their bags removed.

Anna and Booker shut their eyes at the sudden brightness. Once their vision had adjusted, they looked around and saw they'd been strapped to tables next to one another in what appeared to be an operating room. Bright lights hung from the ceiling, while counters to the left were covered in all manner of surgical tools. The guards marched out through the door they'd entered from. Booker and Anna appeared to be alone, for now

Booker immediately started struggling against the table's bindings. They held fast, despite his efforts. He looked over at Anna. "Do you see anything that can help? Maybe in one of those tears of yours?"

"What does it matter?" Anna responded, her voice barely above a whisper.

"_What does it matter_? What matters is that if we don't do something quick, we're gonna' get turned into wretches! That matters to me!"

"It doesn't matter because Elizabeth and Madame Lutece already _won_," Anna choked out, barely able to admit it. "They're dead, Booker. Robert and Rosalind are dead! And they were the only ones who had any idea what was going on and how to fix this!"

Booker glared at Anna. "So you're just giving up? I might not have been the best person, but I didn't raise a quitter."

"You didn't raise me at all!"

"So you just wanna' sit here and let them mutilate you?" Booker thought on a further comeback. He had to say something to rouse Anna from this defeatist attitude. He noticed the edge of Anna's Songbird cape hanging off the edge of the surgical table, and inspiration struck. "Hmm, fine. Some 'Songbird' you turned out to be."

"What did you say?" Anna's eyes narrowed to slits and her lips contorted into the deepest grimace she could muster.

"I said that if you're 'the Songbird' then I need to re-think my opinion on her," Booker said.

Anna's expression shifted from anger to uncertainty. Booker was right, she'd prided herself on being a watchful protector, a silent guardian. The Songbird wouldn't give up. The Songbird _couldn't_ give up. The Luteces might be dead, but as long as Anna drew breath, it was her duty to continue the mission.

She smiled, filled with new confidence. "You're right, let's get out of here."

"Attagirl!" Booker would have clapped if his hands weren't bound.

There was a tear faintly shimmering in the corner of the room. Anna focused on it until her entire body began to tremble from the effort. She was interrupted when the door swung open.

"You may be wondering why you are not anesthetized," a surgeon said as he finished pulling on his latex gloves. "You see, the trans-orbital lobotomy requires the subject to be awake so we may judge the results. Don't worry though," He grabbed an obritoclast and a small hammer from the nearby counter. "If the procedure works you won't have the mental capacities to worry about your situation."

The surgeon looked back and forth between Anna and Booker. "Hmm, who wants to go first? Any volunteers?"

"Me," Booker said, glaring at the surgeon.

"Really now? Then I think I'll start with her." He laughed and leaned over Anna.

Booker forced his eyes shut, he couldn't watch what he knew would come next. But his attempted sacrifice had bought Anna all the time she needed. The surgeon lowered his orbitoclast towards Anna's right eye, then gasped.

He looked down and saw a katana emerging from his midsection. Blood sprayed over Anna, who screamed in response. Booker cringed, still unable to look at what he assumed was going on.

The katana withdrew from the doctor with a squelch and he collapsed to the side. A samurai, the katana's owner, then used his sword to slice open the bindings around Anna's wrists and ankles. He did the same to Booker, then bowed to Anna, and blinked out of existence.

Booker finally chose to open his eyes and saw a freed, blood-soaked Anna sitting upright on the surgical table. "What did you _do_?"

"I… I opened a tear… the Songbird doesn't kill! I… I…" Anna stared at the blood on her hands. Booker got up from his table and put his hand on Anna's shoulder.

"Shh, it's alright." He rubbed Anna's upper back. "You didn't kill him, that… samurai thing did. Let's get out of here."

"Yeah," Anna hopped off the table. Something was different about her, aside from the bloodstains. Her general air seemed changed to Booker. It was as if Anna had just aged several years in front of him.

She walked to the door the surgeon had entered from and threw it open. Booker followed her. They came into a dark hallway which branched off into three directions. Thanks to the bags which had covered their heads, there was no way to tell which path lead to the exit. Booker couldn't remember them having been turned in any direction, so he pointed ahead.

Booker and Anna walked further down the hall and came to a simple, windowless door. Light shown from the cracks beneath and around it. Booker smiled and turned the doorknob, freedom certainly on the other side. Once the door was open, both Anna and Booker froze dead in their tracks.

"I told you they would escape on their own," Rosalind said to her brother, ignoring the shocked looks of Booker and Anna.

"And I never said that they couldn't, merely that helping them would save time in the long run," Robert answered.

The Lutece twins appeared to have had a makeover since they died. Aside from lacking bullet holes or bloodstains, their myriad cuts and bruises were gone and their clothes were immaculate. Rosalind's hair had even been restored to its natural red.

"I don't understand…" Booker started to say, but found himself unable to articulate his thoughts any further.

"We saw you die!" Anna snapped out of her stupor and threw her arms around the Luteces. They flinched at the contact, but then gingerly returned the hug.

"Yes, we did die," Rosalind began.

"Quite horribly," Robert finished.

"And now you're alive," Booker commented in a deadpan attitude. He had given up trying to make sense of anything related to the Luteces.

"We'll explain in a safer location." Rosalind took Anna's hand and Robert took Booker's.

"Now we've never done this before, so cannot guarantee that it will work," Robert said. He and Rosalind clasped their free hands together.

"Wait, what won't work?" Booker asked.

Reality melted away for the group. Pain spiked through Booker's head, and he felt a trickle of what was surely blood coming from his nostrils. He looked over at Anna, who seemed to be affected as well, but not to the same degree. The pain ceased and Robert let go of Booker's hand.

The four were now in a cozy, but dimly lit hallway. To the left was a staircase lined with pictures of the Luteces in various locations. Some Booker recognized, like the Eiffel Tower or the aftermath of the Wounded Knee massacre. Others he couldn't recognize at all, like a massive cruise listing to the side with an iceberg in the background, and a crowd surrounding a limo with what appeared to be a dead man, another man, and a woman inside.

"What is this place?" Anna asked while looking around.

"This is our home," Robert answered.

"And where is that?" Booker asked.

Rosalind stepped towards the front door, where a large tear pulsed. "Nowhere. This is Robert and I's private corner of existence. I believe science fiction writers from the late twentiethy century would call this a 'pocket universe'." She went through the tear, implicitly suggesting the others follow.

On the other side was a room completely different from the hall the four had just been in. They were in a large, circular room with a glass roof. Arranged around the walls were highly realistic sculptures of various people. On each side of the tear were statues of Robert and Rosalind themselves, acting like gatekeepers to the house. A model of the Songbird, the mechanical one, hung from the ceiling by several wires. Also along the walls were paintings of Columbia, Rapture, and a few portraits of Robert and Rosalind.

"Welcome to the Columbian Archaeological Society." Robert said.

"It's where we keep mementos of our travels," Rosalind explained.

"Look, it's us!" Anna pointed to the left, where a replica of Booker stood, then to the right, to a statue of herself. She ran over to her own statue and poked it. It didn't feel like wax, it didn't fell like anything Anna recognized.

"Everything here is a product of our minds," Rosalind explained. To demonstrate, the statue of Booker changed to a female. Booker looked at the twins and raised his palm.

"Brooklyn DeWitt."

"So what else do you have in here?" Anna asked while looking at the various paintings.

"Nothing. What else would we need?" Rosalind said. She and Robert were standing next to their statues, mirroring their poses exactly.

"Wait, so you guys have an entire universe," Booker said, "that's just your house and a one room museum?"

"There is also a gift shop," Robert clarified.

"But who would you even sell the gifts to?" Booker sighed. He was starting to miss being separated from them.

"I have no idea. Robert just insisted that any proper archaeological society must have a gift shop." Rosalind shrugged.

The awe of being in a pocket dimension was beginning to wear off for Booker and Anna. Anna was the first to get back on track.

"Okay, this place is spectacular but," She raised her eyebrow at the Luteces, "how're you alive?"

"We have Elizabeth to thank for that," Robert began.

"Though I doubt she understood what she was doing at the time," Rosalind finished.

"Elizabeth came in contact with our corpses, doing to us what we had done to her," Robert continued. Booker and Anna didn't know what they had done to Elizabeth, but at this point had learned that it was best to ask the Luteces as few questions as possible.

"Though we don't seem to be unstable like her. I theorize that it is a result of how our initial quantum superposition was obtained in a far less chaotic manner than her own." Rosalind walked over to Booker and Anna.

"Hopefully that should address all of your concerns and questions, as we don't have time for any others. The gift shop is stocked with all manner of period appropriate weaponry and vigors," Robert pointed to a large door at the other end of the room, "gather whichever ones you feel comfortable using."

Booker and Anna walked towards the gift shop, while Robert and Rosalind went back through the tear leading to their house.

"We could stay here," Rosalind said. Robert stared at her with his eyebrow raised. "I doubt Elizabeth or Madame Lutece care about a small pocket universe. We'd be safe, and we'd be together. We could even keep Booker and Anna here if you'd like."

Robert walked into the living room and sat on the couch. He patted the cushion next to him, so Rosalind joined him.

"She'll find us," he said. "And if even she didn't, her damage to reality will continue to worsen, especially with your other 'helping' her."

Rosalind leaned her head against Robert's shoulder. "I know we must, brother, but I can't help but entertain the thought of staying here." She lifted her head up and turned to face Robert. "For an, admittedly brief, moment you were dead and I was not. We were separated utterly, even more so than when we inhabited separate worlds." Rosalind's visage took on an air of grim determination. She grabbed Robert by his tie and drew him forward, enough that their noses were squashed together. "I will _not_ let that happen again."

"Hey, we're ready whenever you are." Booker and Anna were standing in the entryway to living room. Booker had his arms full with a shotgun and a volley gun. His pistol was holstered and his pockets were full of ammo. Anna had gathered more darts from her crossbow and was carrying several vials of salts. They were ready for war.

Rosalind stood up. "Then let us go." She grabbed Anna's wrist, so as not to dislodge the salts she was carrying. Robert did the same with Booker. Once again the Lutece twins linked their empty hands and the four blinked out of existence.


	12. Robert & Rosalind are Alive

_Here it is, the conclusion to Robert & Rosalind are Dead. I'd like to thank everyone who favorited, followed, and of course reviewed this story. Also, a quick shout out to "Mr. Brown" as I can't respond to guest reviews privately, thanks for you many comments and your last one in particular modified the ending of the story a little. I hope everyone enjoys it._

12.

Robert & Rosalind are Alive

Madame Lutece had returned to work in her lab. The guards had brought in the remains of a gigantic, mechanical bird creature that had been rampaging through the city. Once the authorities were certain they had killed it, the creature had brought it to Rosalind. The guards were certain she'd be fascinated by it, they were right of course. Elizabeth addressed the creature as "Songbird". Rosalind had attempted to press Elizabeth for more information, but Elizabeth insisted on working to stabilize her first.

Unlike the Rosalind Lutece she had killed several hours ago, Madame Lutece was not a quantum physicist. This meant she was not as able to help Elizabeth as she might have let on. However, also unlike the Rosalind Lutece she had killed, Madame Lutece had an entire staff of scientists from all disciplines to aid her.

Elizabeth had described a "siphon" used to contain her powers in Columbia, though she could not explain how it worked. Madame Lutece had put her best physicists on the case while she tinkered with the Songbird's remains.

On the other side of the lab, the aforementioned physicists had strapped Elizabeth into a metal framework covered in thick wires acting as binds. Cables streamed outwards and led into generators that were now powering the lab. The physicists' creation was rudimentary, and if they inhibited Elizabeth's powers any, it was at a degree so slight that it could not be observed. The binds were made of a highly resistant alloy, so at least she was contained to one place. It also was proving to be an incredible source of electricity.

The lab was a massive room, it had to be to house Madame Lutece's larger projects. There was a large, two door entrance directly behind Rosalind, and several lesser doors on the adjacent walls for scientists to come and go. Each of those lesser doors led to smaller laboratories focused on specific tasks. The door to the left, for example, was currently devoted to nostrum and vitae research. Elizabeth had mentioned a world where the sea slugs which nostrums and vitae were derived from had been implanted within small girls, greatly increasing their output. The scientists were attempting to the same with wretches. So far it had proven unsuccessful. While the sea slugs implanted correctly, there were… complications.

Elizabeth groaned, starling Madame Lutece from her work. "It's… getting harder, I feel like I can't stay in one place."

"What do you mean?" Rosalind left the Songbird and cautiously went over to Elizabeth.

"It's like I'm not focused. I'm everywhere and… nowhere."

"Isn't that part of what a quantum superposition entails though?"

"Yes, but this isn't the same." Elizabeth's flickering increased. The binding on her left wrist began to spark, as if was being exposed to another reality where the temperature was thousands of degrees hotter. Then Elizabeth, and the frame, vanished entirely.

She reappeared less than a second later, but was now wide eyed and clenching her teeth. "You… you have to do something, you have to fix me and soon!" She stared pleadingly at Madame Lutece. "You _can_ fix me, right?"

"Of course," Rosalind answered. The realm of politics had made her adept at telling lies.

In truth, Madame Lutece's plans had hinged on her physicist duplicates providing the necessary skills to fix Elizabeth. She did not regret killing them, it was clear they would never willingly help, but it did leave her with considerably fewer options on what to do with Elizabeth. Killing her was out of the question, the girl was a wealth of scientific discoveries. Already she was powering Lutece Labs. _If she cannot be stabilized, _Madame Lutece thought, _then she shall be contained, studied, and used to power Lutetia. Even without her tears, her mere existence will at least partially remedy our lack of resources. _

"What did you say?" Elizabeth asked. Several tears opened around her, then vanished before anyone could discern where they lead.

Madame Lutece raised her eyebrow. "I didn't say anything."

"Yes you did. I heard it… but I didn't... You said something, but not you, another you…" Elizabeth shifted her appearance so rapidly she appeared as a blur to Madame Lutece.

The door on the left opened slightly, just enough for a scientist to peek his head out. "Madame Lutece, there's a situation with the most recent batch of opisthobranch implantation trials."

"Then deal with it, I'm occupied at the moment."

The scientist grimaced and ducked away, letting the door close behind him. There was a soft crash from behind it, but Madame Lutece was more interested in Elizabeth at the time.

"What did I say, then?" She looked imploringly at Elizabeth.

Elizabeth scrunched her eyebrows together, trying to recall what she thought she had heard, but now seemed like it never happened. At least not in this world. "You said something about… being happy Robert insisted on a gift shop?" The answer surprised herself as much as it did Madame Lutece.

The two jumped at a deep crashing sound coming from the entrance. The main doors shuddered as something tried to bash them open. With another mighty thump the doors splintered and a motorized patriot stormed in, its crank gun having been used as a battering ram.

"The lord judges, I _act_!" The patriot sprayed its crank gun in an arc across the lab.

Madame Lutece ran for the Songbird and ducked behind it, just missing the hail of bullets. Once the gunfire ceased, she leaned around the Songbird just enough to catch a glimpse of the patriot without being spotted herself. What Madame Lutece saw replaced her terror with blind rage. Walking into the lab behind the patriot were the Lutece twins, Booker, and Anna.

"Impossible," Madame Lutece whispered.

Elizabeth was equally upset. "No, no, no, no, no! You're dead!"

"Oh yes, we hadn't gotten the opportunity to thank you for remedying that." Rosalind smiled smugly.

Elizabeth roared and struggled against her bonds. The siphon that had she had wanted to be contained by only minutes ago now hampered her. Madame Lutece took the opportunity to make a dash for back wall, hoping the Songbird's remains would still obscure her from the motorized patriot's line of sight.

She reached the wall, and more importantly they emergency intercom. Madame Lutece slammed her hand on the call button and yelled "There are armed intruders in the main lab! Get in here now!"

Every guard in Lutece Labs snapped to attention, grabbed their weapons, and charged towards the main lab. At the thundering of footsteps approaching, Booker and Anna readied their weapons. Elizabeth continued to struggle against her proto-siphon.

"Rosalind?" Robert glanced nervously between her and the smashed doorway.

"Yes, brother?"

"We appeared immediately before the doorway, so any guards located farther back would now have an immediate route to us." The four whipped around the entrance they'd come in to see a squadron of heavily armored Lutetian guards charging forward.

"Open fire!" The leader of the guard squadron pointed ahead. Gunshots rang out as the guards shot all they had at the intruders.

Anna and Booker dove the sides, keeping them just out of the bullets' reach. The motorized patriot was unable to turn around quickly enough, and its vulnerable back gears were exposed for too long. It fell over and exploded in a burst of flame, which also set the Songbird's remnants ablaze.

Now on guard, Booker ran out and fired his volley gun into the crows of guards, killing one and knocking three others to the ground. The Lutece twins stood perfectly still while every shot aimed at them missed. Anna stared at them with awe in between firing gas darts into the entrance to knock out the remaining guards.

"Being shot to death and then returning to life leaves one quite immune to bullets," Rosalind quipped. If not for the thick lacing of sarcasm in her voice, Anna, and especially Booker as well, would have believed her.

Guards from other areas in the lab began to arrive from doors on right and in front. Those from the front surrounded Madame Lutece, who breathed a sigh a relief. However, the door on the left side remained closed.

Bullets flew across the room as the guards opened fire on the four. Booker and Anna took cover by the burning Songbird. The Luteces continued to stand and count how many bullets that should have hit them missed.

"Seven," Robert counted.

"Eight," Rosalind continued.

"I liked you two better when you were normal!" Booker shouted over the chaos, standing up to fire at two guards in the meantime. "Well… normal by your standards."

As Elizabeth continued struggling, a tear leading to 1985 opened. The chorus to "Girls Just Wanna' Have Fun" filled the lab.

"Not exactly a battle hymn," Rosalind commented.

"Aren't you going to help us?" Anna called out. She fired her crossbow at the nearest guard. The stabbed into his neck and fell over chocking. "That wasn't supposed to kill you!" Anna cried, more for her own conscience than for the guard.

Heavy knocking came from the door to the left lab. Its hinges shuddered against the force but proved no match for the force behind it. The door split apart and ten blood covered wretches streamed out. It was clear that the scientist who had alerted Madame Lutece early had failed to 'deal with it'.

Booker lobbed a devil's kiss fireball at the wretches, hoping to take them all out in one shot. It hit and singed four of them, but the others threw a fireball right back at Booker.

"Wretches with nostrums!?" He ducked and the fireball sailed past him, hitting a guard instead.

"Hmm," Madame Lutece thought aloud, "I suppose that _was_ a situation worthy of my attention."

Anna fired another smoke dart at the wretches. Upon landing, its payload of green smoke was deployed, to no effect. The wretches shook off any drowsiness they may have been given and charged towards Anna. She raised her sky-hook and glared at them, humming along to the still playing "Girls Just Wanna' Have Fun".

The first of the wretches lunged towards Anna. She spun around, her sky-hook colliding with one wretch hard enough to break its jaw, then continued going to hit another. Now facing away from the wretches she back flipped behind them. Before the wretches could even turn around, she fired a dart into each of their backs. Booker stared at Anna in awe.

Robert and Rosalind strolled past the ongoing battle, heading in a beeline for Madame Lutece. Unfortunately, while it may be very hard to kill or injure someone in a quantum superposition, Elizabeth's encounter with a bid daddy had proved it possible. The wretch whose jaw had been broken by Anna clambered to its feet and unleashed a shock jockey bolt at the Luteces. Anna shot the wretch with a tranquillizer dart, but the nostrum's power had already been loosed.

As they approached Madame Lutece, the twins focused their corporeality on this world, to better 'interact' with the Madame. This left them vulnerable to the shocky jockey blast, which knocked them off their feet. Robert and Rosalind fell and skidded several feet before coming to a rest, their hair standing on end from the electrical discharge. Madame Lutece cackled in triumph, and the guards around her remained steadfast.

The remaining guards had focused their attention on Booker, who was using a turned-over lab bench as cover. He was running out of ammo for his pistol, and had already exhausted the volley and shotgun. The last of the pistol's bullets were emptied into a guard who had the bad luck of entering the lab directly within Booker's sights.

Booker tossed the now useless pistol away and chugged a bottle of salts. He hoped they had the same potency as Lutetia's vitae, as he would have to rely entirely on nostrums now.

"Booker, catch!" Anna threw a box of shotgun shells towards Booker. He whipped around and caught them, then grabbed his discarded shotgun and began to reload.

"Much obliged!" He fired at a guard who tried to rush the table, adding two bullet holes to the guard's chest. "Where'd you get these?"

"I just found them." Anna shrugged.

The Luteces had recovered from their quite literal shock and slowly got to their feet. "Focus on the guards protecting Madame Lutece!" Rosalind shouted.

"We're a little busy trying to stay alive, here!" Booker yelled back.

In the chaos, Elizabeth had been forgotten. She continued to struggle against her bonds, constantly opening and closing tears. Most vanished before anything had a chance to emerge or fall in, but a few objects did get through. A flock of Australian treecreepers emerged from one and began to furiously peck at the guards surrounding Madame Lutece. From another tear, a pair of Duke and Dimwit mascots stumbled out, directly into Booker's line of fire. A shot meant for the most recent guards to arrive instead penetrated the mascots' gigantic head-masks. The two fell over, presumably dead.

"You killed Duke and Dimwit!" Anna cried.

"I wasn't aiming for them!"

Meanwhile, the twins pressed the advantage of the treecreeper attack on Madame Lutece's guards. Robert had never gotten to use his crowbar during the siege of Finkton, and now he wanted to make up for lost time. He grabbed a new crowbar from a tear and whacked the nearest guard in the side with it.

Rosalind decided on something with more bite, and took a hand cannon. She shot one guard, prompting the others to ignore the treecreepers and open fire on the twins. The shots missed, but the guards were now acting as a human shield between them and Madame Lutece.

Elizabeth saw the Luteces' progress, and rage filled her. They were going to ruin everything _again_! This time, instead of trying to hold herself back, Elizabeth let power flow outwards. Hundreds of tears opened and closed, and the metal frame of the siphon began to flicker. In a flash it vanished, sent off to some other unknowable reality. Elizabeth stood free of her bonds.

"Enough!" Elizabeth released a burst of raw energy that sent the guards, twins and Madame Lutece flying. She also closed the tear that had been playing "Girls Just Wanna' Have Fun". "I tried again and again to be the better person. But you just won't accept that you're wrong, that I _can_ be stabilized."

"Look at yourself, Elizabeth!" Robert yelled. "Reality is falling apart from you mere presence!"

"No, that's not true!" Elizabeth held her forehead. "I can… I can…"

"You cannot. Please, listen to us!" Rosalind said.

"Don't listen to them, they just want you dead. They simply cannot stand the idea of someone who is more intelligent than themselves." Madame Lutece reached for the crowbar Robert had dropped after Elizabeth's escape. She silently raised it over Rosalind's head.

Elizabeth saw this, and was unsure of what to think. Images of the Luteces, casually gunned down mere hours ago flooded her mind. For some reason, she didn't want that to happen again. Elizabeth made her choice.

"Rosalind, duck!"

Rosalind turned around, causing Madame Lutece's swing to miss her. Elizabeth ran to the three and tackled Madame Lutece.

"What are you doing? I'm trying to help you!" Madame Lutece gasped as Elizabeth's tackle knocked the wind out of her.

"No you're not. You're trying to help yourself." Elizabeth stood up, holding Madame Lutece by the collar of her shirt. "A friend of mine once said, 'the only difference between you and Comstock is you how spell the name'."

Elizabeth opened a tear and shoved Madame Lutece through it. The tear closed behind her. She turned to the Luteces.

Rosalind looked down at her hand cannon. "I wanted to _kill_ her…"

"Don't worry. I sent her somewhere worse."

Elizabeth walked over the remaining guards still in firefight with Booker and Anna. She opened her hands as if to open a tear and the guards vanished. "They're in a world exactly like this one except they died and we lost," Elizabeth explained. "I think they'll be happy there."

Anna and Booker lowered their weapons, but kept them ready, and went to join Elizabeth and the Luteces.

Elizabeth looked down at her feet, unwilling to bring her eyes to the others. "I really messed up, didn't I?"

Rosalind opened her mouth to answer, "That was a rhetorical question." Elizabeth interrupted. "So," She smiled sadly. "What do I need to do?"

"Physical contact with Anna should… remedy this. Much like Robert joining myself in Columbia affected him, I theorize it will have a similar, albeit more severe, effect on you." Rosalind explained.

"Then I'm ready when you are." Elizabeth held her hand out to Anna.

"Wait," Robert said while holding Rosalind back so she would not interrupt him. "Anna you need to know, if you do this—"

"I'll probably get destroyed too," Anna finished. The twins and Booker stared at her. "What? I'm the Songbird. Eavesdropping comes second nature to me."

Before anyone, especially a now horrified Booker could object, Anna took Elizabeth's hand in her own. They both began to flicker, their hair turning a blinding white. Elizabeth smiled one last time at Robert, Rosalind, and Booker. There was a great flash of light, and everything and everyone vanished into it.

###

Madame Lutece groaned and opened her eyes. She was cold and soaking wet, laying in a large puddle. Something was gently shoving her midsection, but her body ached too much to turn to see what it was.

"Look Mr. B, I found an angel!" Something stabbed into Madame Lutece. The white hot pain jarred her to action and she shoved what turned out to be a disturbingly pale young girl off of her.

The girl shrieked. It was answered by heavy, inhuman rumbling. With a thunderous stomp for each step it took, a massive, hunched over creature in a diving suit walked into view. Its right hand was either covered by or entirely replaced by a large drill. The drill began to spin as the big daddy raised its arm. It was the last thing Madame Lutece ever saw.

###

Robert and Rosalind found themselves sitting in a rowboat on a flat sea. In every direction around them, countless lighthouses of all possible designs stood above the water. No human mind, not even the Luteces', were capable of truly comprehending the space between universes. This "sea of doors", as Elizabeth had once called it, was metaphor the twins had borrowed from her to help them visualize it.

"It worked?" Rosalind asked. She tried to see through the doors, to see if Elizabeth or any trace of the damage she'd done remained. Rosalind could not find any.

"I believe it did," Robert answered. "Somewhere in New York City, Booker DeWitt is cradling his infant daughter. Somewhere in Rapture, Madame Lutece is being giving a lobotomy via a big daddy. All Columbias, all Comstocks, all Elizabeths should now be erased... Everything,"

"Is as it should be," Rosalind finished.

Robert leaned back on their rowboat. "So where shall we go next, dear Rosalind? I think it's your turn to direct our travels."

Rosalind grinned, eagerly contemplating all the different universe they could visit and observe. Should they watch a planet be devoured by a black hole? Or perhaps revisit the world where Theodore Roosevelt had been rebuilt as a handyman rather than dying? But despite all these tantalizing choices, Rosalind felt a pull towards one door in particular. A door which led to a world she had once sworn never to return to.

Robert noticed that she seemed to have chosen a destination, and grabbed the oars. Rosalind pointed straight ahead and he began to row. The rowboat thumped against the lighthouse dock, and the twins stepped off. It was then that Robert, too distracted by rowing before, noticed what door they had come to. His eyes widened.

"This is…"

"Yes brother, it's where we died," Rosalind said, hooking her arm with Robert's. "We'll return, use the Lutece device one last time, and find a world we can call home."

"Are… are you sure?" Robert stared at her.

"Is this not what you wanted, brother?" Rosalind raised her eyebrow.

"More than anything, but, only if you also want it," Robert answered. He turned around to face Rosalind, holding her hands in his.

"I want us to be together. I think we've earned a rest."

Robert was unsure what to do now. He could thank Rosalind, tell her he loved her, or thousands of other responses, but settled on grabbing her tightly and kissing her. Rosalind leaned into him and returned the embrace. Robert pulled back to speak, having now found the right choice of words.

"Rosalind, I love, have loved, and will love you."

"I love, have loved, and will love you as well, brother."

Robert chuckled. "You know you'll need to get out of the habit of saying that."

"Only in public, brother," She gave Robert a quick peck on the cheek. "Only in public."

They turned towards the lighthouse door and stepped through into their new lives.

###

1901

New York City

"Okay, Anna. I'll be right here if you need me." Booker ruffled the hair on his eight year old daughter's head. Anna smiled up at him, then darted off into the playground.

Booker plopped down on the nearest bench. He glanced over at the couple sharing the bench with him, then did a double take. If not for their matching wedding bands, he would have thought the pair were twins they looked so alike. But that wasn't what drew Booker's attention. There was something else about the red-headed couple, something he couldn't quite place.

"Excuse me," Booker said. "Do I know you?"

Robert and Rosalind turned their heads, and did a similar double take at Booker.

"I'm…" Rosalind began,

"Not sure," Robert finished.

Booker coughed to break up the awkwardness. He held out his hand. "Booker DeWitt."

"Robert Lutece," Robert gingerly shook Booker's hand. "And this is my wife,-"

"I can answer for myself, br… dear. I am Rosalind." She reached over to shake Booker's hand as well. "We are professors at Columbia University, perhaps we saw each other there?"

"Can't say that I've ever been in a college, let alone that one." Booker looked over to the playground to check on Anna.

She was playing in a sandbox with two red headed children, a boy and a girl, that looked maybe a year younger than Anna.

"They yours'?" Booker gestured the pair with this thumb.

"Yes," Robert smiled proudly. "Ronald and Rosamond, twins."

"It seems they're quite fond of your daughter, Mr. DeWitt," Rosalind said. "I suppose this won't be the last we see of each other."

"Yeah," Booker nodded and smiled. "I guess not."

###


End file.
